A Dream Come True (Sort of)
by Book Soldier
Summary: A normal girl with a normal life is thrown into the Ranger's Apprentice books. It seems like a dream come true right? The only problem is that she knows a lot of closely held secrets and people are very suspicious. Can she survive this new life? (Rated T just to be safe.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! So, all you Ranger Apprentice writers out there know me as Guest Ranger Robbin. I finally got an account and I have had this idea in my head for a while and I want to see how it turns out. Now this is the first story I have EVER written so please no flames but constructive criticism is very welcome. I am posting the first chapter and probably won't post another until I get some feedback so here goes…**

**Disclaimer: No, I sadly do not own anything belonging to John Flanagan. Such as the **_**Ranger's Apprentice **_**books. I don't own any of the other books mentioned either.**

Jaylinn, or as her friends called her, Jay, lived a relatively normal life. She went to school, came home, and did school work. In her free time, she read. She read all kinds of books, Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the 39 clues, anything she could get her hands on but her favorite had to be the Ranger's Apprentice books. She loved them so much. She had read the series several times over and when she heard that there was going to be a 12th book she danced around and sang for most of the afternoon. On the outside she seemed like just a normal 14 year old girl, but on the inside, she was depressed.

You see, Jay didn't have many friends, the people who were her friends she didn't get to see very often. So, Jay spent most of her time in trees reading and listening to music. She was a great climber and she took martial arts. Specifically, MMA (mixed martial arts) and she was pretty good at it too. She was also great at unseen and unheard movement. So, most of the day people didn't even know where she was and she could be by herself. Jay liked being by herself. In fact, most of the time she wore black or grey so she wouldn't stand out. She definitely kept to herself. At night Jay would lay in her bed and dream of being a Ranger in the books. She prayed every night that she would wake up in the books. The dream never happened of course. She would wake up in the morning still in her room.

It was a normal day; Jay got up and dressed in camouflage cargo pants, her black combat boots, and a black three –courter length sleeve shirt. This was her favorite outfit, baggy pants that tucked into her boots and a fitted shirt. Not a body squeezing shirt, just fitted. She grabbed her back pack and started to run out the door for the bus when she realized that it was Saturday. She smiled at that concept and ran to her room to find her survival pack. It had everything that she would need in it if she ever got lost in the woods. She always took it out with her when she went to tromp in the forest behind her house.

Finally out in the woods Jay stood up to her full 5 foot 11 inches and grabbed onto an oak branch above her head. She swung herself onto the branch and scrambled into the tree. She found a sizable branch and sat down. She swung her survival back pack off her shoulders and hung it in a branch next to her. It was a tan backpack but it camouflaged well with the tree so no one would be able to find her. She reached into her back pack and pulled out her sketch book to draw some. She was an exceptional artist and her favorite thing to draw was the rangers. Jay's drawings always looked lifelike. After a few minutes of that, she took out the 9th book of the Ranger's Apprentice books and started to read it again. Even though it was cumbersome, she would always carry around all 11 books with her. She opened the book and started to read but for some reason she got very drowsy and soon her eyes shut and she fell asleep.

Jay woke up to the feeling of falling; she snapped her eyes open and realized she was falling to the ground. She desperately tried to grab for her bag but it also came loose and it fell with her. She had been sitting about 30 feet off the ground and that was a long fall. She reached out and tried to grab onto branches but she just kept falling. Her hair streamed behind her and she screamed as she watched the ground get closer and closer and right as she was about to hit, she blacked out.

**So this is the chapter. I know it is not the best but again it is the first time I have ever written a story so I hope you guys liked it! Please review! o and i was going to name her Jennifer and call her Jen but the books already have a Jennifer so I wasnt sure. Should I change her name to Jennifer or should I just keep it? Please tell me! Just click that button below and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I went ahead and wrote another chapter! The perspectives in the chapters will be changing so just sit tight.**

**Disclaimer: I am a girl and so there is no way possible that I am John Flanagan.** **I don't own anything of his. If you recognize an of the characters in the story they don't belong to me**

I woke up with the worst head ache in the history of headaches. My first thought was 'where am I?' I then remembered the fall from the tree and groaned as I rolled onto my back. I took stock of all my injuries and slowly let the feeling back into my body. I felt pain on my stomach and slowly reached my hand down and felt around my left side where it was hurting. My hand shot backward as I felt a sharp pain lance up the side of by body. The fingers on my right hand were covered in something wet and I raised my hand to my face and panicked when I saw them covered in blood. The first mistake I made was trying to get up quickly. I fell down with a cry when agony burned up my side.

After calming down from the panic I remembered the medical kit in my backpack and looked around for it. My pack was laying about twenty feet away from me and I slowly and painfully crawled my way over to it. After what seemed like hours searching for it, I pulled it out of my pack and looked around for the really big bandages and the gauze. It didn't have to be perfect just enough so that I didn't bleed to death before I could call the ambulance.

I wrapped it up, which is a lot harder in real life than it was in class, and sat against a tree. I didn't get a good look at the wound because I didn't bother cleaning it as I was about to call the ambulance and they would take care of it, but what I did see wasn't pretty. It was a gash that ran from about the left side of my rib cage to around the side of my body and almost onto my back. I wasn't sure but I was pretty sure I had broken a couple ribs too.

I once again searched in the pack and found my phone. When I pushed the circular button on the bottom (I had an *iphone) it blinked on but quickly shut off. I then remembered I had forgotten to charge it last night. The odd thing was that before it shut off I saw a no signal sign. That was weird. I usually had great reception out here. The realization hit me. I had to walk to find help. Now it wasn't far from my house. Maybe half a mile, but not far. The only problem? I could barely stand, let alone walk that far. I knew it was walk or wait to be found while I desperately needed stitches. I decided to walk.

As soon as I had my knees under me I took one of the hair bands from my wrist and pulled my honey blond (almost light brown) shoulder blade- length hair into a pony tail and grabbed my camouflage hat out of my bag and pulled my hair through and set the hat on my head. I grabbed my water bottle (one of the metal ones) and took a drink. I settled my back pack over my shoulders and slowly got up. I wobbled on my feet for a few uncertain seconds and then felt really light headed. I started to fall again but with my hard headedness I retained my feet.

The first step was agony and it only got worse from there. I was so concentrated on the pain that I didn't realize until a few minutes later that I had no idea where I was. That was very confusing because when I fallen out of the tree I was in a place of the woods I knew very well. The more I walked the more confused as to where I was. Nothing looked familiar and the more I walked the more it hurt. The pain was almost unbearable now and I wanted to close my eyes and sleep right where I was but I knew that if I lay down I might never get up again.

The first thing that brought me out of my pain filled mind was horse beats. No one where I lived owned a horse. My instincts screamed at me to run toward the sound yelling and to get their attention. But, as I said before, no one where I lived owned a horse and so I was hesitant to yell out and get their attention. I kept walking forward slowly and almost silently but as luck would have it, I stepped on a twig and I cracked with a loud *snap!* I froze but the horse beats also stopped. I held my breath as I heard the sound of someone dismounting and walking to where I was hiding. "Who are you?"came a commanding male voice. I was so scared that all I did was turn and run. Yes I know that was a stupid idea but as I said before I was losing a lot of blood and I wasn't thinking straight.

I heard the footsteps behind me and they were gaining quickly. I was starting to panic again. Yes I know I needed help but I was so terrified that I just kept on running. As luck would have it, I tripped and fell over on my face. I rolled over just as a hooded figure walked into my vision. He was tall and was wearing a cloak. Wait a cloak? Who wears cloaks in the 21st century? Yea that is how my brain works. I am bleeding on the ground with a total stranger standing above me and I am wondering what he is doing wearing a cloak." A girl?" came his voice again. I wanted to retort 'yea and you got a problem with that?' but all I could manage was a whimper. The questioning eyes under his hood softened and he knelt down next to me. I tried to slide away but he grabbed my arm and kept me from running. "It's ok I won't hurt you." I desperately wanted to believe him but it was so hard. I saw his eyes glance down to my wound and I heard a sharp intake of breath. "You are hurt we need to get you medical care." That was when I gave up and nodded. "What is your name?" he asked. I hesitated but then answered anyway "Jaylinn" I answered. "Well then Jaylinn, let's get you some help. Can you stand?" I tried but instantly collapsed. "Here let me carry you." He picked me up bridal style and walked over to his horse?

There was something very familiar about his cloak, I couldn't put my finger on it but I knew it was there. I saw something around his neck and when I looked closer I saw it was a sliver oak leaf necklace. I stared in shock. Was he just a big fan? But then I remembered the strange woods, my phone not working, him wearing a cloak. The realization hit me. Could I really? I saw his horse and attached to it were saddle bags and a long bow. A long bow…nonononononono! That was all I could think at that moment. I looked up at his face again and asked a question that was scaring me half to death at that moment. "Who are you?" "I'm Ranger Gillan." Reality slammed into me and I promptly fainted once again.

**So here you go. Two chapters in one day. I hope you all like it. Please give me some feedback!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey peoples! So thanks to StarHunter11 for reviewing! For anyone else who is reading this, my updates will most likely be sporadic and so the best thing to do would be to follow so you know when I update. My goal is to update at least once a week or more. During the summer and vacations you will probably get more updates than usual. So enough of me talking! Onto the story….. Wait wait! I forgot! I accidentally spelled Gilan wrong in the last chapter so sorry to every Gilan fan out there! I'll try and fix it later!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything belonging to John Flanagan. **

I groaned as I started to slowly wake up _again!_ What was with me and passing out! Something didn't feel right. My bed was too hard and the blankets were too heavy and scratchy. I slowly opened my eyes but quickly shut them again as light flooded in. Why weren't my curtains closed?

Everything came back to me at once but I remained lying down because I wanted to figure out what was going on before I did anything rash.

'Was everything that happened to me a dream?' I thought. No, that couldn't be it because the pain in my side was real enough. 'Then maybe I hallucinated the whole Gilan part.' That had to be it. I couldn't have actually woken up in Araluen, right?

I heard people talking outside my door and so being nosy me, I listened in. I was also curious as to where I was and maybe these people would give me a hint.

The first voice was the male voice I had heard earlier in my hallucination. He must be a doctor. "Will, I told you already, I don't know where she came from."

Will was a common name nothing to worry about. The next voice was also male and was slightly a higher pitch so he must be younger.

"So what you're telling me is that you found a girl in the woods and she was bleeding to death on the ground. She was also wearing pants that resembled our cloaks?"

The first voice spoke again. "Yes, and she passed out after I told her my name!"

"So? Did you tell her you were a Ranger? That scares people sometimes."

"Well yes I did…..but it's not just that, I saw recognition in her eyes. I have never met her before!"

"O so now you're telling me you have fan girls. She passed out from finally getting to meet you!"

"Shut up Will this is serious."

"You said she had a bag with her did you check it?" That was a new voice. It was deep obviously another male.

"Well no not yet…." Came the first voice.

"Then why did you drag us here!" Shouted the deep voice.

"She has been out for three days and I didn't know what to do! I heard you guys were headed back to Redmont and were passing by so I thought that maybe you could help!" Retorted the first voice.

"Gilan you're an idiot. Check the bag and make sure she isn't a spy from some other country!" Demanded the deep voice.

I had enough. I had been out for three days? All the names they were mentioning were confusing me. I couldn't _actually_ be in a book! A story was just a story!

I sat up quickly. I had to get out of here. Maybe if I ran it would shock me back into reality. As soon as I sat up light seared my eyes, pain exploded in my head, and a stream of agony rolled down my side. I fell off the bed in a heap of blankets and landed on the floor with a loud *thump*.

My breath came in short gasps as I tried and failed to sit up.

"What was that?" came the higher voice from outside the door.

"It came from the girl's room," answered the deep voice.

I started to panic. I had to get away! I stood up shakily and grabbed onto the window sill. I was still wearing the outfit I was before but my shoes were set in the corner next to the door.

As the door started to open I backed into the corner next to the bed and watched as three men came into the room. They were defiantly not doctors. The first to come in was the one who rescued me and apparently had brought me here. He was tall probably reaching 6' or 6' 1" and had brownish blondish hair that reached his ears. He wore medieval type clothes. In fact they all wore that type of clothing. The next person to come in was shorter, maybe just at or slightly over 5' 9" in height. He was the youngest of the group and had a mop of chocolate brown hair that was shaggy above his ears. The last to come in was a middle aged man; he was the shortest but most intimidating of the group. He was just below average height, maybe 5' 7" or so. He had short cut black hair that was showing his age with the gray that tinted it.

I really started to panic now. They hadn't seen me until I backed into the corner some more and tried to press myself into the wall. The movement made me gasp in pain and they all turned to look at me. I froze out of fright.

"Hey don't be scared I'm not here to hurt you." This was said by the one I had pretty much confirmed as Gilan.

"Yeah we just want to help" said the youngest. I dubbed him Will.

The pain washed over me again and I fell to my knees gasping for breath. I vaguely registered that my stitches had broken and I was once again bleeding.

The older one, if this was going where I thought it was, would be Halt, rushed over to me and knelt down beside me, but I tried to pull away. Yes I was pretty sure now that I was in a book but that didn't mean that I had to trust three total strangers, even if I did know who they were.

"Shh… shh we won't hurt you we just want to help and you are bleeding again. If you want our help, you are going to have to trust us." Yeah I was pretty sure this was _the_ Halt. He had a kind but stern voice. It was the kind of voice that you just wanted to trust.

He then turned around and said to the two behind him, "Gilan, Will, stop standing there like two mindless rocks and get some help."

"Right" said Will, "I'll go and get the doctor from the castle to come down here." He then rushed out of the room and I heard the front door slam and then horse beats.

"What am I supposed to do?" asked Gilan.

"Go and make some coffee." Answered Halt in the 'duh' manner.

I smiled at that. Yep it was now confirmed. I had entered a story book. How? I didn't know. All I knew was that this was a dream come true. Well sort of. I was still sitting on the floor bleeding. Who knew it had to be so painful to visit a book?

**So there you have it! The third chapter. Thank you StarHunter11 I hope the writing was a little better in this chapter! I am sorry about the grammar mistakes and any spelling errors they are not my strong suit. Please review! Constructive criticism is very allowed and encouraged! **


	4. Chapter 4

**OMGOSH GUYS! I love you all! Just because I'm bored and you all are awesome and I got 9 reviews in 2 Days you get another chapter today! And as a bonus I will respond to all of your reviews! Let's start at the beginning!**

**StarHunter11: Wow thank you for being the first to review! I hope the 3****rd**** chapter and this one is more of what you thought it should look like. I will also try to update the other two later. Thanks for reviewing!**

**je buurman: I PMed you!**

**Rainspell: Thank you for liking my story! Sure now that I am into the fourth chapter I guess I have to keep her as Jay. I have some funny nicknames already thought up for that name that the *cough* **_**other**_** rangers will call her. **

**G: Well thank you for reading it. Yeah I can't wait to see what happens either. I do not have this story planned out at all! I have a few ideas I want to put in the story but every chapter is made up while I am writing it! So suggestions are very welcome!**

**PROREADER: Yep I did get into the Ranger world quickly. I literally wrote that chapter in like an hour and I will probably go back later and update it. I am not one on big introductions though and it probably would only be one chapter anyway even if I did revise it. We might see some flash backs later on in the story so you will get to see her life anyway. Thanks for reviewing! O and yes Jenny shows up in this chapter!**

**Guest: Thanks for loving it! Keep reading! I am hoping to get interesting in the next few chapters but I have to build the story before I can get the action. **

**Moniqubowman: Yea I know right! I want to be in the books! Thank you for reading!**

**If I missed anyone I am sorry and I will get to you the next chapter.**

**SPOILER ALERT! This chapter and the remaining ones will have spoilers to all 11 books! Don't read if you haven't read all the books! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of it! Accept any OCs.**

Gilan left to go make the coffee and I was left in the room with Halt.

"Here let me help you to the bed" he crouched down next to me and I put my arm around his shoulders as he stood up and helped me to the bed.

I gratefully sat on the bed and then lay down with a sigh of relief as the pain subsided a little bit.

"Thanks Ranger Halt. I'm sorry I didn't trust you guys at first but I was scared after I woke up in a strange house. I should have trusted Ranger Gilan but I….I…..I was scared. I am a long way from home and I don't know where I am." I was trying to bluff way through this one. I knew exactly where I was but the added truth about being scared did help carry off the lie.

"It's alright that you were wary. It shows caution. Something my two _former_ apprentices need to show more often and you can call me Halt."

"What do you mean? Aren't they already cautious?" again I knew exactly what he meant. In the books Will would always rush into his adventures.

"Here is an example. When Gilan was first training with me it was winter and he rushed out to the river to go skating. He didn't check the ice before he stepped onto it and it cracked and he fell through. I had to nurse that idiot for three weeks afterward because he caught a fever." I smiled at that. Only Halt could tell a serious story and make it sound as if everyone in it was dunce head.

"Where are you from anyway?" he asked me. 'UHHHHHHHHHHHH' was all I could think. How could I not realize that if I said I didn't know where I was that he would ask me where I was from! So I answered the stupidest way I could…..

"I'm from Hibernia." Can anyone say STUPID! Panic and nervousness always made me answer stupidly. That is why I am not a good lyre.

"Really? Then how did you get here?" he asked.

"Uh….I walked."

"That's a long way to walk, especially for a girl your age. Who hurt you so badly? We can find them after we are sure you are safe."

"Um yea that is a very long way to walk. I uh fell out of a tree." I looked away blushing. Falling out of a tree is a very humiliating way to get hurt as badly as I did. I mean it could have been 'o I was in an epic battle' or 'I saved a child from drowning'. No, I had to fall out of a tree.

He looked at me as if I was as bad as Gilan who fell in the ice. Then something registered in his eyes and I realized a mistake I had made earlier. A really big mistake.

"How did you know my name? I don't believe I mentioned it earlier."

Um how do I respond to that? I recognized you from the descriptions people gave me? But I supposedly lived in Hibernia so how could I have heard of him. As far as I knew this could be before the 8th and 9th books. I at least knew Will was a ranger because Halt mentioned his _former_ apprentices so I was after the 1st, 2nd,3rd,4th,and 7th books. Any description I got from people would have made him out to be bigger than life.

Halt saw my hesitation and I could tell he was about to demand an answer but at that moment I was saved by Will riding up with the doctor. Halt gave me a look that said 'this isn't over, I want answers' and then he left the room. I was terrified! How will I answer the questions that come my way later! I got off easy with the Hibernia question for now!

Will came into the room with the doctor on his heels. The doctor was an elderly man but was surprisingly fast on his feet for one of his age. He saw the blood on my bandages around my stomach and came to stand over the bed.

"I will have to restitch the wound. Could you please pull up your shirt so I can see more clearly?"

"Um…" was all I answered. Now don't get me wrong, I was wearing a sports bra but that didn't mean I wanted Will standing there while I took my shirt off. The doctor was fine because he was a doctor but…..well girls you know what I mean.

Will saw my hesitation and blushed. He turned on his heel and left the room closing the door behind him. I laughed at his antics and then slowly and painfully peeled my shirt off. The doctor shook his head at the sight of the broken stitches.

"Young people." He scoffed, "They think they can tear open their skin and be up and running about in under a week!"

'Hey! Watch it old man! Next time you get sliced open and get pickup by total strangers tell me you don't want to run!' that was what I at least thought but as soon as they were about to leave my mouth, he pressed his fingers against my wound and I yelled out in pain.

"Hm, I think you have some broken ribs young lady. I am disappointed in my assistant for not catching this earlier."

"Can you stitch it up already?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Be patient! I have to clean the wound again and make sure it is not infected." He probed my ribs again for a while and eventually started to wipe the blood away.

"Can one of you young men be useful and bring me a basin of water?" yelled the doctor toward the door.

**Ok so it gets a little graphic after this part. If you don't like graphicness then don't read. I will tell you when it is over.**

The door opened and Gilan stepped through holding a bowl full of water. He gasped when he saw me on the bed covered in blood.

"Is she going to be ok?" he asked.

"Of course she will be if you give me that bowl of water." He snatched the bowl out of Gilan's hands and went to work cleaning the wound.

"If you could get me a piece of rolled up leather for her to bite that would be most appreciated." You could tell it was more of demand then it was a request.

Gilan ran out the door and was soon back in with a piece of leather in his hand. He gave the leather to the doctor who placed it in my mouth instructing me to bite down.

"Now, I am going to stitch it up again so keep as still as you can."

O crud. I am not in the 21st century anymore. That means no pain killers. Nothing to put me to sleep while I was being operationed on. I suddenly knew what the leather was there for.

I bit down hard as the doctor stitched me up. As the needle slid through my skin I thought of all the cuts and bruises I had obtained during my 14 years. I now realized I had been a complete whiny baby. My last thought before I blacked out from the pain (again) was how lucky people in the 21st century really were.

**Ok all the scary surgery stuff is over. You can come out from under the covers.**

The doctor had finished and wrapped the girl up in a blanket after cleaning up his mess. He got up and groaned from his aching muscles and walked to the door.

He silently closed the door and walked into the main living part of the cabin. All three men were seated around the table in the middle of the room drinking coffee. As soon as they saw him the two younger ones got up and rushed over to him.

"Will she be ok?" asked Will.

The doctor chuckled and replied "Of course she will as long as you don't scare the living day lights out of her again".

Halt, who was sitting at the table, laughed at that thought. "Will, scaring someone? I think Tug is scarier than Will will ever be."

Will turned around and glared at his mentor. "I can be scary if I want!" he answered.

Gilan turned to look at him. "Really. I will believe that as soon as Tug climbs a tree." He said with a totally straight face.

The doctor chucked again to himself and left the bickering trio to themselves. On his way out, he bumped into a young lady on the porch.

"Pardon me young miss. I didn't see you there."

"O no worries it was my entire fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." She beamed at him with a brilliant smile and hustled on inside.

The doctor smiled again and was on his way.

**LINE BREAK!**

Gilan, Halt and Will were still bickering as the woman who had just bumped into the doctor walked into the room. The three men were too preoccupied to notice her at first until she cleared her throat and they all looked up at once.

"Jenny dear I thought you wouldn't be here until tomorrow!" Exclaimed Gilan as he ran up to her to give her a hug. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek as he rushed up to her.

"Yes it was quite nice and the going was easy so I arrived early. What a lovely surprise it is to see you Halt and Will." She greeted them and then turned back to Gilan.

"Now Gil, we both know that seeing you is not why I am here. Where is this girl you have told me so much about?"

Gilan led Jenny to the room where Jaylinn was staying but as soon as Jenny was through the door she turned around and blocked Gilan from entering. "I'm sorry Gil but I want it to be just me and the girl right now. You have done enough." With that she closed the door and left Gilan standing outside with a forlorn look on his face.

"I will never understand women" and both Will and Halt nodded their heads.

**Ok peeps. So I'm sorry these last few chapters have been filler chapters somewhat but in the next few chapters I was thinking about them finding her books. Should they or should she come up with a total story and then she screws up and says something she shouldn't or they just find them later. What do you guys think? Thanks to all reviewers and please keep reviewing! O the Gilan story was all mine! Please read! I am making this up as I go so suggestions are very useful! Review please!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow! 15 reviews! *tear* you all are AMAZING! Um so I will answer your reviews again. O and please let me know if you actually read them.**

**Rainspell: I am really happy you like it! Please do keep writing!**

**Dawfire11: Yea I really reached down into my dictionary and thought of some good words. Yea I am trying to help her not be a Mary Sue I hope you started to see her flaws in the last couple of chapters. Naw don't worry I fan girl all the time! I actually love writing humor I am just not very good at it. Please keep reading!**

**AriannaTheRanger: Thanks for liking my story! I think that she will come up with a story and lie. Out of the two it creates more of a plot line. **

**Ok so I love all of you! On to the story!**

**Disclaimer: Refer back to chapter 1.**

**Jenny's POV:**

After shutting the door I steeled myself for the worst and turned around to see a girl around the age of 14. She was a strange girl and even from her laying down position you could tell she was taller than even Alyss.

Her hair cut was different than anything that I had come across. She had bangs like some of the younger boys she had seen but they were longer and off to the side of her face. Instead of her hair being all one length, it was cut in layers with the hair in the front being slightly shorter than the hair in the back. It was also cut shorter than a normal girl's hair falling just slightly below her shoulders.

Jenny shook herself out of her thoughts. She was here to take care of this girl, not wonder about her looks. But, Jenny couldn't shake herself out of the thought that this girl was not all that she seemed.

**Jaylinn's POV:**

Jay woke up again. She had been here for who knows how many days and it seemed that most of the time she was either fainting or waking up.

She opened her eyes to see she was alone in the room again. So, naturally, she wondered off into thought.

Ok, she needed to sort everything out. She was in Araluen. Jay had come to terms with that fact. She was stuck in a world, in a house, with strange people. Well, not exactly strange, she actually knew a lot of the people who lived here. She had been in a lot of their heads too. She knew how they thought. _That_ was weird. She was stuck in the same world as _the_ Will Treaty and she knew a lot of his thoughts from his teenage years and into his twenties. If that didn't sound stalkerish than she didn't know what did.

In fact, she knew a lot of his secrets. Jay grinned at that thought. She would defiantly have to exploit that fact.

She knew a lot of the Ranger secrets too like how they had a secret gathering every year, or where they hid their throwing knife, or how every ranger horse had a secret code. Jay already knew three of the horses pass codes.

She now knew she was going to have to mess with their heads. Once she got to know them better( she was determined to become friends with every single one of the main characters) she would have to call them all nicknames they already had or ones she had made up. She already had one for Will: Chocho. O she was going to have fun indeed.

Deep within her musings, she didn't notice the woman who walked into her room until she was standing beside the bed. As soon as she did notice however, she jumped a mile into the air. She calmed down and decided to actually pay attention from now on. From her somewhat sitting position, Jay sized up the woman.

She had longish, somewhat curly, blond hair. She wasn't the tallest person and was a little rounded. Not fat, but, not the skinniest person either. Ahhhhh, she must be Jenny. Jay was determined to recognize each of the characters when she saw them.

"O dear, I didn't mean to scare you!" Jenny apologized.

"O its ok it's totally my fault. I was too lost in thought and should have been more aware of my surroundings." I replied.

She chuckled and handed me a cup of water.

"Well then, I am glad you are up. I was just checking on you to make sure you were ok. I am about to go fetch some more water from the stream and I wanted to make sure you weren't bleeding again or something."

"O no I am fine. Um I was just wondering, where is everyone else? I noticed it was very quiet and well…" I trailed off. I didn't know how to put in politely.

"All of the 'supposedly' quiet rangers are very loud?" She chuckled again "Will and Halt don't live in this fief so they went on their way home. They do have jobs to do after all. Gilan went up to the castle to do some work. He will be back soon enough."

Jenny must have seen my look when she said 'supposedly' quiet rangers' cause she giggled and answered, "Don't worry dear; I am Gilan's girlfriend so I can tees him all I want."

I found that humorous. If you were a ranger's girlfriend you were could insult them and not get an arrow through the heart? Cool.

"Well if you are alright, then I will be back in a bit." She turned to leave but I stopped her.

"Um, do you know if they searched my bag?"

"No they did not. I persuaded them not to. Every girl needs her privacy right?" I could see the question in her eyes as to why I would ask and I knew that from now on I would have to be more careful.

"Yeah….thanks." was all I could answer.

"Well I'll be off now." She left and I knew that if I was going to get to my bag then I would have to do it now.

I waited for a bit for her to be well out of the way and then slowly and painfully got out of the bed. It surprisingly didn't hurt as bad as it had before and for that I was grateful. I was steadier on my feet than I had been before and could now walk a little bit.

I began my search for my bag. It wasn't in my room so I ventured out into the main living area. I gasped as I saw it. It was just how the books explained it, small but homey and very clean. Unfortunately, I couldn't gape at the room very long because I _had _to find my bag.

The bag wasn't in that room either and the only room left to check was Gilan's room.

Jay quietly snuck into his room. She knew she didn't have much time and luckily she quickly found her bag and was relieved to find that everything was still in place. Jay pulled out all 11 books, her cell phone, everything else 21st centuryish, and her sketch book. All she left in her bag was anything survivalish that didn't include a flashlight or anything else like that.

She pulled out a large handkerchief that she found in her bag and set everything on top of it and tied it up into a knot. She 'ran' back to her room. She needed a place to hide everything.

She searched for a good place but the room was too small for any good hiding spots. She reached under the bed and heard a squeak. An idea came to her and she went back to her bag to find a knife. When she had gotten back to her room she crawled under the bed and began to pry up the loose board.

As soon as the board came loose, she grabbed the makeshift bag and shoved it in. It was a perfect fit.

Jay knew her time was running out and put the board back and slipped from under the bed. She limped back into Gilan's room and replaced her knife and set the bag back exactly where it had been before. Unfortunately, her bag would be considerably lighter and she knew that Gilan would notice. An idea popped into her head and she grabbed her water bottle and her *camelback and ran into the kitchen.

Jay's *Camelback had been set empty in her bag the morning she was transported here and she had drained her water bottle right before she had fallen out of the tree. The water barrel was full and Jay quickly filled up both of the containers and rushed back to her pack to place both of them into the bag. She hoped that the added weight would compensate for the stuff she had taken out.

At that moment Jay heard footsteps coming towards the front door. She had to get back to her room quickly and make it look like nothing had happened.

She jumped to her feet (which was rather painful) and hobbled towards her room. She was almost there when she heard the front door open.

**O I am mean! Cliffy! Ok, so when Jenny described her hair it wasn't completely accurate because even though she was in a kind of sitting position, she was still kind of laying down. Jay has side bangs and layers. She also has longish layers that frame her face. So, this would be a weird hair style for them. Sorry guys, that was for the girls reading! Um and anyone wondering why she took her sketch book it would be if you remember that in the first chapter I said that her favorite thing to draw were the rangers and so if they found it, she would be put into an awkward position. Yep so I know this wasn't the most productive chapter but I hope to have another posted tomorrow! Please tell me what you guys think of my writing and how I can improve cause I know this was not one of the better chapters. Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey there every one! Thanks so much for reviewing! Here are my answers to your reviews! **

**Starhunter11: Thanks so much for reading! I hope you continue to like the story!**

**Dawnfire11: OMgosh! Thanks for liking my story! I was afraid that it was going to be a total bust! **

**moniquebowman: Yea the water idea didn't even come to me until I was thinking how heavy the books were and how much of a weight difference that would make. I also make the same mistake of accidentally reading chapters backward. It actually happens to me a lot! XD**

**AriannaTheRanger: Thanks for the compliment! I was totally afraid people were gonna be like 'wow this story is stupid' or something. I made sure to check the I and me POVs in this chapter and tried to keep it all in one POV. Thanks for pointing that out!**

**To everyone! This chapter speeds by a little fast! I am sorry for that. I just need to hurry and get onto the next part of the story. Don't worry! I will slow down the story in the next chapter.**

**Ok so I don't own anything. Not the RA books. *tear* or the LOTR reference or the Narnia reference. I also don't own the song in this story. This is just a FANFIC everybody!**

Jay froze. Wait! Why did she freeze, she _had_ to get out of there! She was just so scared that they would find her that she couldn't move.

Luckily, she heard hoof beats outside and that stalled Jenny from opening the door anymore. Jay slid into her room and closed the door behind her. Once she reached the bed she breathed a sigh of relief and gratefully sank into the covers.

Jay's side hurt and her head was spinning but she didn't have that cold stone of fear in her stomach any more. She had been so scared that they would find her books and start asking questions she wouldn't be able to answer.

Jay heard a female and male voice coming from outside of her window. She listened to them closely but couldn't make out what they were saying. She did hear something that sounded like a good bye and then hoof beats again that faded after a few minutes.

She once again heard the door open and close and then, surprisingly, Gilan entered the room. He must have seen the confused expression on her face as he walked in.

"It's good to see you up!" he said _way_ too cheerfully for her liking "You may be wondering where Jenny is."

"Uh yea I guess" she replied.

"Jenny decided to stay at the castle why she is here and only comes down during the day."

Jay looked outside and noted that it was still light outside. "Um…..it's still light outside" she said confusedly.

"O well Jenny has been working hard lately and since I will be here for the rest of the day she decided to leave and rest for now." He answered, but he must have seen my downcast look because he immediately continued, "Don't worry; she did leave us some of her famous lamb stew "he said with a smile.

Jay smiled back and at that exact moment her stomach rumbled. Gilan laughed and Jay realized that she hadn't had a real meal since the morning she fell out of the tree.

"Um, can you help me to the table?" Jay inquired. Her little escapade had left her tired and sore.

"Of course" Gilan held out his arm and she appreciatively grabbed onto it and hoisted herself self up. Jay had to transfer most of her weight to lean onto him and hobble her way to the table.

Jay sat down with an *hmph*. The stew must have been on the stove during her search but only now did she smell it. It smelled delicious. Jay was so hungry and the stew smelled so good. Her mouth started to water at just the thought of eating. Yeah, she knew she sound like some feral animal but other than what she was sure they somehow got down her while she was passed out, Jay hadn't eaten in like four days.

Four days. It suddenly hit her that her parents didn't know where she was. They didn't know if Jay was alright. They must be miserable. But, maybe this world works like Narnia. Maybe only a few seconds have passed since she had been here. Then again, none of those kids were ever hut as badly as she was entering the different world. They also didn't know what had happened in the past. It was totally new to them. They didn't even know where they were. See how Jay's mind works. It can skip from one point to the next in a matter of sentences.

Of course all of those thoughts dissipated as soon as Gilan set a bowl of that delicious smelling stew in front of her. She was about to dig in but stopped herself as she remembered that it was impolite to eat before the other person had their food.

Jay waited for Gilan to sit down. She then folded her hands and said a quick prayer. _Then _she allowed herself to eat.

The stew was _amazing_. Jay had never had anything better in her life. The stew was flavorful with just the right amount of spices put into it. The meat, o the meat was another thing in itself. It was tender and it just melted in your mouth. The natural flavors of the meat seeped into the broth and made the stew just heavenly.

If Jenny's stew was this amazing, Jay couldn't even imagine what Master Chubb's soup was like. The books did say after all that Jenny rivaled Chubb in cooking.

Gilan must have seen her expression because she heard him laughing.

Jay looked over and gave him a 'what' expression.

"Your expression was funny" he answered her non verbal question.

Ugh. Gilan could be so childish sometimes. "Well I have heard of your girlfriend's cooking on my travels and the rumors were completely true. She is an amazing cook."

Gilan gave me a questioning look. "Who said she was my girlfriend?"

"Um…..Jenny" Jay answered in her best 'duh' tone. Yea, she was bringing on the teenager.

It was then that he switched the subject to the one subject that Jay didn't want to talk about. "So, Jaylinn, why don't you tell me about your life?"

O no. Bad Gilan. She was not ready for this question. So, Jay did what she always did under pressure. She panicked and then answered the dumbest way she could.

"I don't like to talk about it" great she just started a sob story. The bad thing about sob stories? They are always detailed. The best way to answer in her case would have been, 'O yea I was a millers daughter and wanted to see the world,' or, 'I am an orphan. I just ran away.' Nope now she had to make up a horribly detailed story. Lies are hard enough to keep with in the first place. Now she had to keep up _this._

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to resurface bad memories."

Poor Gilan. He looked so distraught. Ugh, Jay felt like a horrible person. She had created a sob story and now she had made Gilan think he had made bad memories come up.

"O it's ok." Jay wasn't hungry anymore. She felt so bad. Getting up, Jay left the table and gradually made her way back to her room.

She wasn't exactly tired either, so she sat on her bed and waited for the sounds of Gilan shuffling around the living area to fade.

Once all was silent, Jay decided to get some fresh air. The only problem was that she knew that Gilan would hear the front door opening. He had picked up on Halt's habit and didn't oil his door hinges. The door made a horrible squeaking noise every time it was opened.

The only other option was going through the window. So, that was what Jay did. It was a very painful process but the reward was amazing. It was night and Jay hadn't been out yet during the night.

The view was spectacular. More stars shown in the sky than Jay had thought possible. They covered the sky like a blanket. The odd thing was all of the constellations that she knew were still there. Already Jay had been able to pick out several. The big and little dipper, Orion's belt, Ursa minor and major all shown there as if she was still at home.

She couldn't look away. The balls of flaming gas (Jay was pretty sure that none of the Araluens knew that fact) were twinkling faithfully there. The city lights she lived around made a big difference. 'Maybe', Jay thought, 'if everyone turned out there lights once in a while people could experience this.'

She even spotted the normal planets still in their normal spots. She was obviously still on earth but maybe in a different dimension or something.

The moon was also bigger than Jay had thought possible. It shown with a brilliant light. She sighed and sat on the first step of the porch.

She realized now just how much she actually missed her family. Even though at home it got lonely she had loved her family. Jay had the urge to sing something. What she wanted to sing was something by Skillet but she couldn't do that either. Jay was pretty sure rock had not been invented yet. Ugh, she was restricted to so many things.

What she settled on was an Irish lullaby her mother had sung to her as a child. You see, her mother was from Ireland and so naturally Jay loved the Irish culture. She had even picked up on her mother's Irish accent a little bit. You couldn't really hear it unless she started to sing in Irish or she was around someone else with an Irish accent. It was more prominent when she was angry too. Another habit picked up from her mother.

The song she sang was called Sleepsong. Jay started off quietly but got a little louder as the song continued.

'Lay down your head and Ill sing you a lullaby

Back to the years of loo-li-lai-lay

And Ill sing you to sleep

And Ill sing you tomorrow

Bless you with love for the road that you go.'

'May you sail fair to the far fields of fortune

With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet

And may you need never

To banish misfortune

May you find kindness in all that you meet.'

'May there always be angels to watch over you

To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li-loo-li-lai-lay.'

'May you bring love and may you bring happiness

Be loved in return to the end of your days

Now fall off to sleep

I'm not meaning to keep you

I'll just sit for a while and sing loo-li-lia-lay.'

'May there always be angels to watch over you

To guide you each step of the way

To guard you and keep you safe from all harm

Loo-li-loo-li-lai-lay

Loo-li-loo-li-lai-lay.'

Jay finished her song and jumped when she heard a voice behind her.

"Jaylinn, you have a nice voice."

She spun around to meet Gilan standing there with a smirk on his face.

"O my gosh! You scared me to death! Stop sneaking up on me like that!"

Sneaking. Jay loved that word it reminded her of the part in the 3rd Lord of the Rings movie when Gollum was talking to Sam when they are on the 'steps'.

'Stop!' Jay told herself. Her mind was wondering again.

"I wasn't sneaking!" Gilan answered.

"O ho! Then what were you doing?"

"Well actually I guess ….sneaking." I burst out laughing.

"What? Did I say something?" Gilan looked very confused.

"Yes, yes you did but you wouldn't get it. Just forget what just happened." O that had played out perfectly.

Gilan sat down next to me. "You have a very interesting way of speaking."

"Uh yea I guess." This was going in the wrong direction.

"You know you have a very similar accent to the one Halt has."

"Really I hadn't noticed." I actually had and had been trying to cover it up.

"Where are you from?" Gilan was going in the opposite direction I wanted to. I just told him what I had said to Halt and hoped it would stop there.

"Um… I'm from Hibernia." Please stop asking questions.

"Really so is Halt!"

"Huh, I didn't know that." Yes I do! Stop talking Gilan!

"Where from Hibernia are you?"

I started to panic again. You all know what happens when I panic.

"I'm from," uhh…..uhh….. "Clonmel." Ugh! I could have face palmed right there. I didn't though. Gilan wouldn't have understood that gesture.

"Wow really?"

"Yep" I know I sounded a little too chipper but I was desperate to get out of there. "O wow I should be getting to bed." I stood up and walked through the front door.

I hurriedly walked into my room and closed the door. I sank into the bed and tried to calm down. It was hard since I had almost got caught in the act and my side was still throbbing.

I really needed to figure out a story before anything went wrong even more than it already had.

**Did everybody like it? I am kinda at a writers block at the moment and Im kinda just hoping to write it out. I hope that the chapters aren't too boring. The song in the chapter was 'Sleepsong' by Secret Garden. Please please please review! **** I am also a BIG LOTR fan! Wait a second (fangirl moment) ok. Yea I have read all the books twice and watched all the movies like a bajillian times! O and am I writing too fast? Like you all know what I mean. Please review! **

**Random question of the day: What does Hibernia mean?**

**Really, look it up on Wiki.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey there peoples! I'm back! So yea! Another chapter!**

**Um I will PM you if you are a member and I will answer the reviews for guests here. I don't have time to get to them this chapter but I do hope to get to them next time.**

**This is starting a week of band camp so the updates will be slow. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: If you seriously think I own RA well, you need to re-read the covers of ALL the books. **

Jay woke up the next morning and went over to the water bowl to wash her face and maybe wake up a little bit more.

She was feeling loads better even though if she moved too quickly her side made sure to let her know. Jay looked at her face in the water.

She laughed at her reflection. Her hair was all tangled and mussed up. She had bags under eyes from the stress of having to keep up her façade. She was a deathly pale and looked like she had been dragged through the forest several times.

Jay knew that she would feel better if she could get a change of clothes. There was a change in her bag. She kept them there for when she would rip up her clothes really badly or something in the forest and she needed to change. It had never actually happened before but she was now happy that she had thought of that before.

The only problem was that her bag was in Gilan's room. She would have to face Gilan and ask for her bag back.

Jay walked to the door and took a deep breath and steeled herself for what was to come. She opened the door and walked into the kitchen to find Gilan already sitting at the table.

Jay shook herself and huffed. Gilan looked up from some report he had been working on.

"O Jaylinn it is good to see you up."

"Um Gilan please call Jay. I was also wondering if I could ask you a question. No wait _two _questions."

"Well I see you are not going to fall for that old retort."

"Nope. I have fallen for that one _way_ too many times."

"So, what did you want to ask?"

"Um well…Gilan…..I was wondering if I could have my bag back."

He gave her an understanding look.

"Jay, I haven't gone through your bag yet because I wanted to do it with you around so that if I found something that was questionable you could explain it and I wouldn't jump to conclusions. But, you have to promise me you won't lie about anything."

"Of course Gilan. Thanks so much for waiting for me."

Gilan got up and walked into his room to get her bag. Jay seriously hoped that she had gotten everything that she needed to out of her bag. She knew that she couldn't lie very well and so would tell the truth anyway.

"Wow Jay, your bag is pretty heavy. What do you have in it?" Gilan was starting to sound suspicious.

"O nothing. Just water and some other stuff" that was now officially a true statement.

Gilan was trying to figure out how to open her bag. Jay giggled, her bag had a zipper and apparently they were not invented yet. She unzipped the bag for Gilan and handed it back to him.

He gave her a weird look. "What is that?"

"Um, that is called a zipper. My bag is a one of a kind no buckles or loops for me." She giggled again. This was going to be very interesting.

The next thing that Gilan pulled out was Jay's two water bottles. He looked interested in the metal one but the *Camelback was what _really_ got his attention.

"What is this?" he was looking very confused.

Jay laughed at his expression and grabbed the water bottle from him. She put it on her back and grabbed the straw.

"You see, it's kinda like a water bottle backpack. If you need to go hiking and you need a lot of water than you just use this. Cool right?"

"Cool?"

"O yea. Um….. O just forget it."

He gave her another weird look and began to search her backpack again. He pulled out Jay's assortment of knives ranging from hunting knives to switch knives to throwing knives. She carried a lot of knives. Jay thought they were cool. Gilan was very interested in them too.

**Side note:**(Jay only carried one of each kind of knife except for the throwing knives that had come in a three pack.)

She explained the switch knife to him and how it worked. He thought that it was very cool and useful.

The throwing knives were very interesting to him too. He examined each knife of Jays and deemed them very good quality. He was confused on how to wear the holster that they came with though. You see the holster that Jay had was one of those sheaths that had the arm straps and clipped in the front. I was perfect to wear under clothes and they could be reached quickly.

Jay showed Gilan how to wear it and he was very impressed.

"Yea it is very easy to access and you can carry more than one knife at a time. It works a lot better than your double scabbard."

Jay had started to get cocky again and had let her tongue slip. Gilan gave her an alarmed look.

"How do you know about our double scabbard?" he was being very cautious. Halt made him sound like a total amateur. Jay had been completely wrong about assuming that what Halt had said was true.

"I uh saw you wearing it and figured that this had to be easier than that thing." Who can say 'good save'?

"Hm. Well let's keep going" Jay prayed that he would stop there and fortunately he did.

He went through all her stuff that morning. Everything that you could imagine being in a survival pack was there. It wouldn't have been bad except that she had to explain everything to him. It was like being around a child on Christmas day.

The lighter fascinated him way more than anyone Jay had ever known. It was almost funny watching him go through her stuff. I am not going to list everything that was in her bag because it would take all day. Let's just imagine the ultimate survival pack and there you have it.

By the time they had gotten through everything in Jay's bag it was mid-morning. There was only one thing left in Jay's bag and it was her one of her favorite things.

They were a set of fingerless gloves that had brass knuckles set into them. It was very inconspicuous and there were also small sharp knives on the back of each knuckle that came out of the brass part of the gloves when the wrist control was turned.

**Quick explanation: The gloves are fingerless, black gloves with set in brass knuckles in them. There is also a brass control that wraps around the wrist like a bracelet. When it is turned almost like a dial, small knives come out above the knuckles from the brass.\**

Jay had gotten them on her birthday a couple years ago from her uncle who encouraged stuff like roaming in the woods. He had wanted her to join the military when she grew up and had given her all kinds of cool things like that before.

She showed Gilan how to use the gloves. What she didn't show him was the whole 'turning into knives thing'. She was hoping that he would let her keep them.

She had earlier showed him how to use brass knuckles and he had been fascinated with them and explained to her the strikers that the Rangers carried. Of course it had all been very boring because she already knew about them.

Anyway, Jay hoped that Gilan would let her keep her stuff but she knew he probably wouldn't. She tried any way.

"So Gilan, do you think that I could keep my knives?"

"I am sorry Jay, but with all the mysterious things that we have found, we need you to be questioned. Until you are clean, I am afraid you can't have your knives."

I swallowed and looked up at him. "Well that's ok I guess. I don't have anything to hide." _That _ was the one of the biggest understatements of the century!

"O and Gilan?"

"Yes Jay?"

"I was just wondering who would be questioning me."

"That would be Halt."

**So I have read all my chapters and I hate them. Do you guys like the story or should I just delete it all and start over?**


	8. Chapter 8

**OMGOSH guys! *tear* I love you all! So, sorry if this chapter isn't very good. This is the second and (luckily) the last week of band camp. I am really exhausted right now. Next week will be better though once I get some sleep. You guys don't want to hear about that though. So, the next couple chapters will consist of the Halt interrogation. This chapter will probably just be the build up for it and the next will probably have more of the questioning in it. To the story…..**

**Disclaimer: Do I have to do this every time?**

Halt would be doing my interrogation? She was done for. Jay's secret identity couldn't stay hidden while she was around him. The books always talked about his terrifying stare. You all know what she was talking about. The 'Halt stare'.

"O that is cool I guess."

"Again with that word. What does it mean?" Gilan was looking very confused again. That seemed to be expression that he used all the time around her.

"Um, Gilan, if I tried to explain the word 'cool' to you we would be here all day. Let's just say that it is kind of an off handed way of saying either 'ok' or 'awesome'. I will probably say things like that all the time. Just except that you probably won't understand me and let's get on with life." Jay wasn't feeling too good after realizing that Halt would be interrogating her. Now, Gilan said 'questioning' but we all know what that meant.

She tended to get really snappy when she didn't feel good. At that moment Jay was feeling like she could be sick from nervousness. She _really_ wasn't feeling good.

Jay ran out of the cottage and into the woods. She found a private place surrounded by bushes and got sick. She had never been good on stage and this was just like acting. People staring at her, expecting her to say a line, rehearsed or not. It made her sick to her stomach.

Jay heard footsteps behind her and instantly knew that it was Gilan. She wanted the company but she also just wanted to be alone. Gilan was actually just being nice, but Jay was sure he had just chased after her because she was a 'prisoner' waiting to be interrogated.

"What do you want?" Jay said that with a little more venom than she had intended.

"I was just coming to check on you. You ran out so fast that I was worried." He replied in such a warm tone that Jay _almost_ believed him.

"That's it isn't it? 'You just wanted to check on me'? Yea right. You just came to make sure that your little subject hadn't escaped. That is all I am. Another prisoner for you to interrogate." Jay felt kind of bad but she was in such a bad mood that she wanted to take it out on someone. Gilan was just the unfortunate one to be picked.

"Now Jay. You know that is not why. I came out here because for the past week you have been lying in a bed close to death's door and I was afraid that you were hurt again. Yes you are going to be questioned but that was not my decision. I know for a fact that you would do nothing to harm any of us. You are a kind and sweet girl and I can tell that you are home sick wherever that might be. I highly doubt that you are from Hibernia. But, I will let you answer that on your own time. Please come back with me. Jenny is going to be here tomorrow and I was hoping we could all go out on a picnic."

That offer sounded so good at that moment. Jay was homesick, she was tired, she hurt, and she was confused. She had no idea how she had gotten to this land or how long she would have to stay but, she was hard headed and wasn't about to give in.

"O yea, I get it. Just trying to butter me up so that I will more readily answer your questions right?"

"Jay…."

"No, don't even start. I bet you don't even care what happens to me I could die for all you care."

"Jay…"

"But you need me so that you can make sure I don't work for some other country. Picta, perhaps?"

"Jay…."

Jay could hear his voice becoming sterner but, she had gotten going and almost nothing could stop her when she was on a roll.

"It's just you sneaky Rangers. Always lying and poking your noses into other peoples businesses. You think that you can just manipulate anyone you want huh? Well, you won't manipulate me. Who gave you your orders any way…" Jay was interrupted when Gilan yelled at her.

"Jaylinn! Do not insult the ranger corps or the king. He was the one who gave me my orders. I understand that you are upset but that is no reason to say such things."

Jay cowered when Gilan started to yell at her. She knew that she shouldn't have said those things but well….can any of you understand what she felt like?

Gilan saw the fear and apology in her eyes and swept her into a hug. Jay was stunned for a moment but then just let her emotions wash over her.

She buried her face into his shoulder and started to cry. She poured out all of her bottled up emotions from the past few days. From being scared from first finding herself here to being homesick and in pain. She was, after all, and emotionally unstable teenager.

All that could be heard was the quiet 'shushing' from Gilan and the muffled sobs and the 'I'm so sorry I didn't mean it' from Jay. After a few minutes of this, Gilan finally spoke up.

"Now Jay, we can't stay here forever. If you want to be a ranger than you are gonna have to stop crying and apologizing at some point." Gilan had said this in a teasing manner but something in that sentence had gotten her attention.

"Wait, did you just say 'if I wanted to be a ranger'?" Jay was excited and slightly confused at the same time.

"Jay I want you to understand something. I have found you to be an exceptional young girl and you have shown the skills of a ranger. Before you ask, you climbed through the window and didn't use the door. That shows that you were thinking of the danger there. You also did that almost silently. You showed me that impressive collection of knives and you obviously know how to use them. Just now I had to make sure that I didn't lose you in the woods. You moved very silently and with the shadows. You have the makings of a ranger. I was going to wait until the picnic after the 'questioning' tomorrow to ask you this but, Jay if everything goes well tomorrow, would you like to be my apprentice?"

Jay couldn't think. She had fallen into a strange world and had just asked to be a ranger. Something she had wanted ever since she had gotten her hands on the first book. Yes, yes she _did_ want to be a ranger but…..

"Gilan, I would love to be your apprentice but will the other rangers accept me? I am a girl after all."

"They might not at first but we will just have to prove them wrong now wont we?" He smiled and I gave him another hug.

"Thank you so much Gilan! Yes! Yes! I want to be your apprentice! Thank you!"

"Well then, let's get you back to the cabin and clean you up before Halt gets here."

We walked back to the cabin and Jay thought about what had just happened. She was very happy and now she knew that she had found a place in this new world that she had landed in.

**Did you guys like that one? I know it was a bit mushy but hey, I thought that if I was in a strange world I would also probably have an emotional break down so there you have it! It is also a bit short so sorry. So, obviously I have decided to continue! Thank you readers and reviewers! Please review! It makes me feel guilty and update faster. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey there peoples! Yea thanks for the reviews! So for the answering the reviews, it really gets tiring so, I have decided that I will answer reviews with questions in them. If you have questions go ahead and ask. If it is a personal question, I probably won't answer it. You all know what I mean. Anything that might get me a stalker. I will however thank you people who reviewed starting next chapter. I also want to know, do you want to keep up the more regular updates and shorter chapters or longer waits and longer chapters? **

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. It. ANYTHING! (Accept any OC's)**

Back at the cottage, Jay grabbed her bag and finally changed into some clean clothes. They were kind of like her other ones, a black fitted T-shirt, and black cargo pants that tightened around the ankle.

Jay referred to this outfit as her 'spy outfit'. The shirt was made out of that work out material, almost like what swim shirts are made out of. It was a very breathable material and allowed her to move freely in it. The shirt sleeves came half way down to her elbows. The neckline was almost a mock turtle neck and it fit snugly around her hips.

The pants were made of a tough but very flexible cloth. They had the normal pockets in the front and back, but also had pockets on her legs almost reaching to her knees. Jay had black half-finger gloves to go with the outfit.

She brushed and pulled her hair into a ponytail and set a headband on her head. Jay fastened on her shoes which were almost a cross between a tennis shoe and a soft soled boot.

She grabbed her black hood vest. It was a vest with a hood attached to it. *duh* (Have you guys ever seen those? They look pretty cool.) It was made of almost a sweatshirt material that was also snug around her waist and it zipped up in the front. The hood on it hid her face.

With the final touches, Jay looked at herself in the screen of her iphone and smiled. She looked pretty cool.

With that, she walked into the front room and to the door.

"Hey Gilan. I am just going out for a bit. Maybe climb some trees and think."

Gilan walked into the room from his room and looked at Jay. "Ok, as long as you are back by 5 o'clock because Halt said that he would be here for dinner and I want you here to meet him. Deal?" Gilan was giving her that 'this is not an option' look.

"Of course Gilan. I will make sure to be here on time." Jay turned around to leave when Gilan stopped her.

"Jay?"

"Yes Gilan?" She had turned around by that time and was looking at an inquisitive Gilan.

"What are you wearing?" O she hadn't thought of the fact that people here might not understand her dress options.

"Just my ninja outfit." With that, Jay walked out of the door and into the forest not wanting to make an awkward explanation.

**LINE BREAK!**

Jay had been walking for a while before she had found a suitable tree to climb. She reached up and grabbed onto the first branch above her head. Jay pulled herself on the branch then continued with each branch until she was at the top of the tree. She was tall and so she had no trouble with the higher branches.

The view was spectacular. Most of the trees around Jay's house just gave her an elevated picture of what things normally looked like. From this tree Jay had a whole new experience. She had never seen something so beautiful before.

Rolling hills with sheep and other live stock stuck out where the trees didn't cover. Jay could see Gilan's cabin from her position. It looked all cozy snuggled between the river and the edge of the forest. Smoke curled lazily from the chimney. The river that ran past it also ran around the castle and wound its way along the land like a sparkling blue ribbon.

The castle was also something to marvel at. It was a beauty in its own way. It stood proud on the hill that it rested upon. It was hard to explain, the best that she could explain it would be the description of Redmont in the books. Except that it wasn't red. It was more of a sandstone color. It held more of a majestic beauty. It was built so differently than the buildings of the 21st century. You could tell that it was built for fortification but for beauty at the same time. It was nowhere near as tall as the skyscrapers of the modern era but it was still an impressive sight.

Jay sighed as she sat in the tree. She wished that such sights were available near her house. She decided to just enjoy the moment and hope that maybe she could visit a few more times before she was sent back to her world.

That brought up a thought. Would she ever be sent back or would she be here for the rest of her life. If she was sent back could she ever actually take life as it was. Jay wasn't sure she wanted to go back. She liked it better here. She actually felt like she belonged in this world.

Jay shook those thoughts out of her head and just watched the scene before her. Farmers working in fields, cattle grazing, birds skimming across the surface of the water and looking for lunch. It was so peaceful that Jay almost forgot to check for time. She looked at where the sun was.

Jay swore(she didn't do this very often) and started to descend the tree when she realized that she maybe had 15 minutes to get back to Gilan's cabin.

Jay was about to jump from the tree when she had another thought. She grinned and started to swing from branch to branch on the different trees.

This was actually a very quick way to travel and the cabin was soon in sight. Jay swung one more time and then shot towards the earth. Just as she hit the ground, Jay let her knees collapse and she rolled over her right shoulder to break her fall. This was a trick she had learned from one of her friends.

What Jay hadn't seen was the shadowy figure at the edge of the forest.

**I was going to end it here but, I promised some Halt in this chapter so I continued.**

Jay ran in through the front door just in time to see Gilan putting something into a large pot on the fire.

"Hey there Gilan. I'm back now."

"Obviously. I could have heard you coming from a mile away."

Jay humphed and walked over to the table.

"So is there any way I can help out here somewhere?" Jay could now see that Gilan was cooking something and she felt bad that she hadn't been there to help out somehow.

"You could go fill the water barrel."

Jay nodded and ran out to the barrel and picked up a bucket that was sitting next to it.

About half an hour and 30 buckets later, Jay was on her way to the river for the last bucket full to fill the barrel. She crouched down on the ground and was about to fill the bucket one more time but suddenly, she heard a crack of a stick behind her.

Jay continued to fill the bucket like nothing had happened but she was actually listening very carefully around her.

She heard _very_ soft foot falls off to her right. Jay listened more but couldn't hear anything.

Suddenly, Jay heard the slither of steel and felt something sharp and cold press against her throat. The next thing jay was aware of was a voice that was deep, she thought she had heard it before but she was too scared to figure it out.

"A fair maiden down by the stream all alone. Dressed in something very foreign too."

Jay swallowed but then proceeded to do exactly what her martial arts teacher had taught her to do.

She jabbed backward with her elbow and when she heard a grunt and felt the knife loosen, Jay grabbed the wrist with the knife and twisted it hard. She spun out while still holding the man's wrist and forced him to turn around.

Jay then proceeded to kick that back to his knees and force him to fall to his knees with the knife pressed tightly against his back.

Jay then took in the mottled cloak and the black hair tinted with gray. She gasped and let go. Had she actually just taken down _Halt._ How could she have done such a thing! She backed away and looked down at her feet. Great, she had just taken down her questioner who also happened to be the famous Halt.

Halt slowly got to his feet while rubbing his wrist where Jay had twisted it behind his back. Jay looked up guiltily and shuffled her feet while awaiting his wrath. Surprisingly, he just looked at her. Jay noticed the silence and looked up into his eyes. They were full of something, was that _curiosity_.

"Who knew that one day I would be defeated by a girl? Especially one without a weapon." Jay was slightly offended and pumped up by that comment.

"Sir? Are you not mad?" Jay was sure he had to be slightly mad at her. You didn't just attack Halt and not get away with it without getting a sarcastic comment.

"Of course not. You reacted well to the situation. I needed to be more on guard and should not have assumed that you would not retaliate." Who was this and what had he done to Halt?

Halt rubbed his wrist again and looked at her.

"Next time though, you could make sure that who you are attacking is not on the good side. Girl you need to make sure that this doesn't happen again." There was the old Halt.

"Of course. I am so sorry. It won't happen again. I promise."

Halt gave Jay one last look and then turned toward Gilan's house.

"Why don't we see what Gilan has cooked up for us this evening?" With that he was off to the cabin.

In the books, Halt always complained about Will and Horace's stomachs but, it seemed that Halt had as big an appetite. Right now anyways. Maybe he was just like this after traveling. I shook my head and headed off.

**I am so sorry guys. I know you all want to hear the interrogation. Sorry I promise, promise, promise it will be in the next chapter. If any of you were wondering, Halt wasn't expecting her to was why she took him by surprise and could defeat him. If she was ever in a fight with him anytime else I promise you he would win. The next chapter may not be out for a couple days. Sorry! Sorry for any mistakes. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Onto the next chapter! Sorry sorry sorry! I didn't mean to make you guys wait so long! Please don't be mad! OK so here we go. Review stuff will be at the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Just read chapter one.**

Jay walked into the cabin after depositing the last bucket of water in the barrel and saw Gilan sitting across from Halt at the table drinking a cup of coffee. Jay had yet to taste the coffee here. She had tried coffee (at her house) the way they drank it and found out she preferred it black.

She walked in through the door and tried to slip into her room. Before she could however, Gilan greeted her without even looking up from his cup of coffee.

"Jay, why don't you come to sit with us and eat? Dinner is almost ready and I am anxious to hear about that little episode down by the river."

Jay turned around and looked at Gilan. "It was nothing really."

"Nothing, huh? Well I have heard a lot more than that from Halt. Care to explain?"

By that time Halt was giving Jay that mischievous look that said 'this is what you get'. She gulped and continued, "Well you see…I was down by the river getting water when….well…..uh…" Jay paused. What could she say! ' I took down Halt.' That was out of the question.

"What Jay? You are going to have to continue. I am very curious."

"Halt surprised me….and….let's just say I _may_ have over reacted slightly."

Halt snorted. "Over reacted slightly? You nearly tried to kill me! By the way girl, I _let_ you win."

Now, Jay didn't want to start a war but come on! She had totally taken him down fair and square!

Gilan must have seen the rising tension because right before a yelling match could start; he intervened and announced that dinner was ready.

Jay sat down with her bowl of soup and proceeded to glare at Halt for the rest of the dinner. Luckily nothing happened and the meal was a peaceful one.

**LINE BREAK!**

After the dishes had all been washed and put away, Halt beckoned for Jay to follow him to the table. Gilan followed but Halt gave him a look that said 'not now' and Gilan paused. You could see on his face that he wanted to be a part of this conversion but he left not wanting to be on the receiving end of Halt's wrath.

As soon as the door was closed, Halt turned back to Jay and motioned for her to sit. Jay sat and started to get nervous but made herself calm down. This was not the time for panic. If she was going to bluff her way through this then she was going to have to take it calmly.

Halt sat down across from Jay. He started to go through some papers. Jay knew this tactic; it was to make her uncomfortable. It was to make her fidget and get unnerved. He had used this several times in the books.

True to the books however, Jay did get unnerved and was hard pressed and eventually did start to fidget. She was guilty of something and now Halt had probably just confirmed whatever suspicions he had. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) Halt decided to start the conversation.

"So, Jay, why don't we start with your full name?" Halt decided to start off with basics.

"Um ok, so uh my full name is Jaylinn Kay Byrne." Jay decided not to lie to Halt. There was no point. He would know anyway if Jay lied plus there was no point it didn't really even matter.

"How old are you?"

"I am 14. I will turn 15 next month." That thought made Jay sad. It would be the first birthday without her family.

"Where are you from?"

This was where Jay had to start lying. She hoped that she could pull it off. "I am from Hibernia."

"Really? What part?" Why did he have to ask that? Jay went with what she had told Gilan earlier. It was the only one she knew anyway.

"I am from Clonmel." Jay steeled herself for the barrage of questions that was coming.

Halt had that spark in his eyes that clearly said that things had just gotten interesting for him. For some reason Halt continued with the next subject.

"Who are your parents?"

"Well they are uh…..dead." Was that what she had said earlier? Jay hated lies. She could never remember them, it made her so frustrated!

"Hm." Was all Halt answered. He seemed to be writing something down on a piece of paper. Halt had a frown on his face. Had Jay said something earlier that had given away her bluff?

Jay felt her heart begin to pound faster than it was already. She could hear herself start to hyperventilate. She needed to calm down. This would defiantly give her away.

"Girl, are you ok?" Halt had said this in a tone that obviously said that he knew exactly what was going on. Still, Jay was going to try and bluff it off.

"Yea I'm fine. It's just the…..uh….._rip_ in my side is still hurting." That was pretty good right?

"Well then, would you like to explain why you are lying to me?"

**I almost left you guys here but decided it was **_**way**_** too short and I decided to be nice.**

Jay knew he wouldn't buy it. She had tried her best but now she was dead meat.

"What? I'm not lying. Why would you think that?" Jay knew she had started to sound panicky. She really wanted to pull this off.

"You are practically screaming that you are lying." Halt said that in such a matter-of-fact way that Jay wondered if anyone could _ever_ lie to him.

"Really I'm not lying!" Jay knew it was a futile attempt but she really didn't want people about….._that_.

"Girl, look me in the eyes and tell me that you are not lying." That was what Jay had been trying to avoid.

Jay tentatively looked into Halt's eyes and tried but couldn't make any words come out of her mouth. She looked away and knew that the act was up.

"Now, tell me exactly where you are from and who you are."

"Sir, who I told you I was before was the truth but I can't tell you where I am from." Jay hoped the formal answer would help things.

"Why can't you tell me where you are from?" Halt had started to sound suspicious and that was a bad thing.

"I just can't and even if I did you wouldn't believe me." Jay hoped he would drop it. She knew that he wouldn't but it was a try.

"O, really? Why is that?" Now we have discussed what happens when Jay gets nervous or angry. Yeah, the stupid words come out of her mouth.

By this time, Jay was nervous and irritated. Did I say earlier that Jay loses her temper easily? Well she is sort of a hothead.

"The same reason you didn't tell anyone you had a twin brother that tried to kill you!" Jay yelled that last sentence and immediately regretted saying anything.

Halt narrowed his eyes "How do you know that?" He was now on red alert.

'O crud' that was the only thought that was going through Jay's head at that moment. She didn't answer and only looked at her hands that were resting on her lap.

"Who are you?"

**O I am evil. ** **Sorry guys if any of the characters (Mainly Halt) were out of character. I try my best really. So thanks to my reviewers. I will try to name you all. I also know that it is short sorry.**

**Thanks you…..StarHunter11, je burrman, Rainspell, G, PROREADER, Guest, Moniquebowman, Dawnfire11, AriannaTheRanger, maggiestarjump, J.D, LiaDavidson, Alex, Phoenix Risin, and John Flanagan (don't ask. I know as much as you guys just look at the reviews) ( and Reviewer John Flanagan are you really **_**him!**_**)**

**Thanks so much everybody! If I missed you I am so sorry! I am also sorry if I spelled something wrong in your name. So till next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey there peeps! Ok so I hope you all loved the last chapter. So I looked at my rating for this story. WOW! People there have been like over 800 people who have read the story! I was like this face when I saw it 80. Yea that was my face. To all guests that don't know this awesome fact…..you can review as a guest! I found that out like a month after I started reading these stories! It was really cool! Ok so on to the story cause I know that ALL of you guys hate cliffies…..**

**Disclaimer: I don't and sadly (most likely) never will own Ranger's Apprentice. *tear***

_Previously: "Who are you?"_

Jay froze when she heard those words. Who was she? She was a girl from another world. She was a girl who knew all of the Ranger secrets. She was a girl who could probably help any country take over Araluen. She was a girl who was terrified because she had been away from her family for more than a month and she was stuck in a _fictional_ book. She was a girl, who was lost.

Honestly, Jay didn't know who she was anymore. She thought that she knew who she was in her world but she had obviously been sent here for a reason. Who exactly was she?

"I….I don't know." That was an honest answer. Jay didn't know who she was anymore.

Silence reigned in the room. It had gone on for more than five minutes when Jay finally looked up to see Halt looking intently at her. He had a calculating look in his eyes.

"Well then, why don't you tell me who you _were_?" Jay looked down again. She needed to tell _someone_ but was now the right time? Was this moment when her secret would be exposed? Jay looked back up into Halt's eyes and knew that they wouldn't leave that room until she had told him everything.

Jay took a breath. "If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret."

Halt looked at Jay and shook his head. "Jay, as a Ranger I have a duty to tell my commandant and King everything that is said in this room today."

"Please Halt! I can't have the whole world knowing who I am. I can't have people know the things that I know. You _have _to keep it a secret!" Halt saw the pleading look in her eyes.

She saw him starting to give way. He had bent the rules before, why not now? Jay just needed to push a bit more.

"Please! If you agree I will tell you everything! Please Halt! Please." Jay saw something change in his eyes.

"Alright; on one condition."

"Yes Halt?"

"If it is a danger to my country or my king I will immediately tell them."

That was a fair enough request. "I agree to all terms to which this agreement is made."

Halt gave her his 'you better keep your end of the bargain' look and waited for her to start.

Jay bit her lip and took a deep breath. She was so nervous she wanted to throw up.

"Well for starters, I am from….another…world." Jay paused and looked to Halt to see his reaction. His face was deadpan. How could he look like that when she had just told him information like what she had!

Since Halt wasn't saying anything Jay decided to continue. "And well in my…..world….this place is just a…uh…._story."_

Halt gave Jay a look of great disappointment. She hated that. Halt had been a role model for her after reading the books. Disappointment was not a look that Jay wanted directed towards her.

"Halt please you _have _to believe me!"

"Jay, you promised to tell me the truth."

"No Halt! I am telling the truth! Honest to death! I'm not lying!" by now Halt looked almost ready to murder.

" Jay! You promised to tell the truth! Now you're telling me some…_fairytale._"

In the right circumstances, Jay probably would have responded with something like 'No, _you_ are a fairy tale' but at the moment Jay was terrified that she would be thrown in prison or something.

Jay was panicking. She needed something to show she was not lying. It was at that moment that Jay remembered her sack of stuff in her room.

"Halt! Wait! I can prove that I come from a different world! Just wait here and I will go get it."

"No. You have lied enough to me today. How can I trust you will not run off?"

"Fine then, come with me."

Jay stood up from the table and started to make her way toward her room. Every step was agonizing. This was where everything was decided. Whether or not she would be thrown into a dark, dank cell for the rest of her life or live and maybe create a life in this new world.

Jay reached her door and slowly turned the knob and entered. She made her way over to her bed and knelt down. Jay took a deep breath and proceeded to pry the floorboard up. As soon as her bag was exposed, she pulled it out and set it behind her and placed the floorboard back in its place.

Jay grabbed the bag and trudged back into the kitchen area with Halt trailing her. She sat down and set the bag in front of her. She waited for Halt to sit down before proceeding.

"Halt, I have to make sure this is what you want. As soon as I open this bag there is no going back."

"Just opened the bag already girl."

"I'm just making sure Halt. When I show what is in this bag you will never think of reality the same way again. Your whole world will change. Everything that you know will never be the same."

"I swear if you don't open that bag I will personally open it myself."

Jay looked at Halt and to make sure this was what he wanted and saw….nothing. How could he keep a dead pan face like that in such circumstances? Jay knew that he was good. The books described him like that but this was insane.

"Are you _sure_?"

Halt gave Jay one of the most terrifying glares she had ever encountered.

Jay exhaled with an audible sound and grabbed the string tied around the makeshift bag. She tugged on the end and let the cloth fall open…

**Mwahahahaha! Wow I think this is just as bad as the last chapter. Don't worry guys, I will update tomorrow. I was just struggling with this chapter and couldn't think of anything to write. I will make sure that the next chapter is extra-long since the last few have been lacking on the longness. So for the reviewers…..**

**Thank you…..Hibernia12, GraceDarkFeather, Guest, Alex, Dec21, Dawnfire11, moniquebowman, Phoenix Risin, G, and Sadly just a Guest (I have just dubbed you Faithful Guest). (Yea I gave you a name. I thought you deserved it. ****) For the guests, when you review you can put in a name. It is easier for me to list you. If you don't, I will give you all names. If you don't like them, I guess you will get a different name with every chapter. Sorry not trying to sound mean and all but I like to know if I have reviewers who are coming back. **

**For everyone! Um was Halt in character? I know that he would have probably cursed somewhere in there like he would in the books but I was not comfortable writing it. Believe me; I am not scared of cussing. I watch modern day movies people! I just don't feel comfortable writing it. So was it ok without it? **

**Song of the day….Comatose by Skillet. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hehehe. Doesn't everyone just **_**love**_** those cliffhangers of mine? Hey I get the idea from reading all ****of**_**your**_** stories. Blame yourselves people. Ok so here we go…..**

**IMPORTANT ANOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: By now you people should know that I **_**don't own Ranger's Apprentice.**_

_Previously: She tugged on the end and let the cloth fall open….._

In the middle, lay everything that she had put in there before. Jay dug through until she found the books and pulled them out, sliding the last few into her lap unsure of where she had landed in the Ranger's Apprentice timeline.

"Halt, remember earlier when I said that you were a story? Well, here are the books that you are from." Jay carefully arranged the books in order facing Halt. Each of the colorfully designed covers looked somehow out of place sitting on the plain, dark, wood table.

Jay knew they didn't belong here. They should not exist in this world and yet they did. She shouldn't exist here either; and yet here she was, a lonely misplaced girl in a foreign world. With each book that she lay down, Halt kept a straight face; a face so empty of emotion and thought that had one not known Halt's personality, one may have thought that he was blind and deaf…or dead. However, when he began to r_ead_ the titles, he lost his composure.

"How did you get these?"

"Halt, I told you, I come from a different world." Jay noticed Halt's eyes glance to her lap where she had slid the remaining books of which she was unsure.

"I can see you have more books, why have you not put them down?"

"You see Halt; I'm not sure where I landed in the time period of Araluen, and I don't want to give away what the future holds because that could mess up the story, so, would please tell me what your most recent…adventure has been?"

"Ok… well…"

"No wait! This will just make it easier. Is Will married yet?"

"Yes. Has been for almost a year."

"Well in that case, here are the rest of the books" and with that, Jay set the rest of the books on the table in order.

Halt had a look of wonder on his face as he read the titles of all the books. He had never seen book covers that were as detailed and colorful as those that Jay had placed in front of him.' He picked up the first on and thumbed through it.

"Who is this John Flanagan that writes all of these books?"

"Wel, he is the author. He lives in a country in my world called Australia."

"How does he know about us?"

"The problem with that Halt is that…..well…..you guys don't exist in my world. You are all…well…..a fairytale. Mr. Flanagan made up all of you guys."

The rest of the conversation consisted of inquiring questions from Halt followed by awkward explanations from Jay. They discussed what would happen if anyone found out that Jay had a lot of the secrets of the Ranger Corp in writing. Halt suggested burning the books, but Jay promptly refused. She hadn't spent time and money collecting the series just to have them burned. Plus, Jay was afraid that if her books were burned, she would immediately be returned to her world.

Now, don't get her wrong, Jay did want to go back to her world to see her family and stuff, but she had just been thrown into one of her favorite stories and she hadn't even met all of the characters yet. Jay at least wanted to see more of the country. She had been stuck in Gilan's cabin for a month and she was ready to go out and see what else was out there in Araluen.

Halt started to ramble about the responsibilities of knowing everything that she did and Jay began to zone out. She wasn't trying to be disrespectable or anything but she already understood the responsibility she had to take.

Jay's mind wandered to what the other characters in the book would look like. She also wondered if they acted just like they did in the books. So far the other characters she met had mostly acted like they did.

"Girl, are you even listening?" Halt's words broke through Jay's thoughts and she looked up.

"Of course Halt."

"Well then, would you like to answer my last question?" Oh, he had asked a question? Crud, she was busted.

"Um well…"

"You weren't listening." He said stated, knowing she wasn't listening.

Jay looked down. "No I wasn't. What was your last question?"

Halt raised an eye brow and re-asked his question, "Will your parents be wondering where you are?'

That brought up some painful thoughts. Would Jay's parents be wondering where she was? Had she been gone as long as she had in this world?

"Honestly, I don't know. I have no idea if time passes the same way here as it does in my world. Who knows? Maybe in my world it has only passed a few seconds. Maybe it has been years. I have no idea."

Halt leaned his elbows on the table and started to rub his temples. "Let's just get on with the rest of your stuff."

Jay pulled out her cell phone and flashlight and some other stuff she had shoved in the bag.

**LINE BREAK! **

After trying her hardest to explain what a cell-phone was, and how it worked, Jay placed the last item they hadn't explored onto the table in front of Halt. Picking up what was her sketch book, he began to flip through the pages. After a few tense moments, he looked up.

"What are these pictures of?"

"Well….they're pictures of you; of what I imagined you to look like.

Halt continued to study for a few more minutes before handing the sketch book back to Jay.

"You're pretty good at that."

"Um…..thanks." Jay never thought that the actual Halt would see her pictures.

"Well, we better get Gilan back in here. Would you like to tell him what happened?"

Jay thought for a moment before deciding that the fewer people who knew about what had happened, the easier it would be for her. The people of Araluen did not need to know that there were books about them.

"Actually Halt, I would like to keep it between us, if that's okay with you of course." Jay looked to Halt for his answer but the only thing he did was raise his eye brow.

"That is your decision."

"And Halt?"

"Yes."

"You are going to keep it between us right? You are not going to go tell Crowley or King Duncan right?"

Halt looked thoughtful for a moment, "I guess not. But, I will have to think of something won't I?"

"Thank you, thank you!" Jay went and hugged Halt before thinking about who it was she was hugging and backed off, a blush spreading across her cheeks as she looked down at her she missed was the small smile that crept onto Halt's face as he walked back to the stove to prepare the coffee.

"Why don't you get Gilan. He has been outside for the better part of two hours while we talked."

Jay looked out the window and realized that what Halt had said was true and they had indeed talked for almost two hours and the light was fading fast.

Jay ran out of the door and looked around the cabin for any sign of Gilan. She ran to the archery range and saw that his discarded bow lay near one of the targets. Gilan had obviously been practicing there because arrows were still stuck in the target.

Didn't rangers usually pick up after themselves? Why didn't Gilan have his bow with him? Jay felt that something was off about the whole thing and started to get nervous. Because of her nervousness, Jay let her guard down and didn't hear the footsteps behind her.

An arm wrapped around her waist and a hand covered her mouth, smothering any scream that might escape. Jay panicked and started to struggle but relaxed when she heard a very familiar voice.

"Halt must be losing his touch if I could sneak up on you this easily." Jay heard soft laughter and then the hands holding her in place released their hold. She spun around to a very amused Gilan.

"That wasn't funny Gilan. You nearly scared me to death."

"O did I scare the little girl? Come on Jay, I even gave you hints." Jay could see that Gilan found this whole situation very funny and frankly she didn't like it.

"Hey I just had a very pressing _conversation_ with Halt. Now is not the time to screw around Gilan."

"By the way, how did it go?" She could see the apprehension in his eyes.

"Great, actually. I, personally, thought it went quite well."

"Well that's a relief. Why don't we go in and get a nice relaxing cup of coffee." And with that, Gilan led the way to the house.

"Coolios." Gilan turned around and gave her a weird look.

"What did you just say?"

"Um, nothing. Just...never mind." Gilan gave her one more look and then continued on his way to the cabin.

The two of them arrived at the cabin in time to see Halt setting three cups of coffee on the table. Jay eagerly sat down and started to drink the coffee given to her. It was better than she had imagined it would be!

It was then that she noticed the weird looks coming from both Gilan and Halt.

"What?"

Gilan was the first to speak, "You drink your coffee black?"

"Uh….yea. Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, not many girls that I know drink coffee. Especially not black."

"Well, I guess that I am different than the rest then. Is that ok with you?" Jay took another long sip from her coffee and glared at Gilan daring him to say something.

Gilan just shrugged and continued to drink his coffee as if nothing was ever said, and a few minutes of companionable silence were spent simply drinking coffee. Jay felt like she was in the book. Well technically she was, but then again she wasn't.

Gilan began to get impatient. Jay knew that he wanted to know what had been said during the long period that she and Halt had talked. A few more minutes passed until Gilan had to ask what had been bothering him for the last few minutes.

"So, what happened?"

Halt just raised his eye brow at Gilan. He seemed to like that expression a lot.

"Sorry Halt. It's just you know I was wondering if Jay could become my apprentice, but I know she has to be approved of first." Halt jerked slightly in response to that news before glancing at Jay who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

"Jay is clear. You know I will have to run it by Crowley first before anything can be said about anyone becoming anyone's apprentice."

Jay beamed at Gilan and he smiled back at her. Things were finally going in the direction she wanted them to.

**LINE BREAK!**

That night Jay sat at her window and thought about everything that had happened to her since she had fallen into this world more than a month ago. She thought of all the lies she had told and the relief of finally being able to tell someone about it. Jay knew that her adventure wasn't over yet. In fact it had barely started.

The thought of adventures made her think of her little brother back in her world. She remembered his smiling face and how he used to dress up in his cape and run around the house. He would always come to her and ask if she would go fight a dragon or save a princess with him.

Tears started to drip down Jay's face as she thought of her family. She missed them and she wished that she could talk to them about her predicament. Jay just wanted to talk to someone who knew where she was from. She was just a child who was stuck in a big strange world.

Jay wanted to talk to one of her friends who could fangirl with her about seeing characters in a book that they had talked hours on end about. She smiled at that and thought about her best friend Katherine, Katherine, and how they always screamed like little girls when a new book came out.

Jay stared out the window and saw a shooting star. She closed her eyes and began to make a wish.

"I wish that I could talk to someone I know. I wish that I wasn't alone in this world." As Jay whispered her prayer, she had no idea what she had just done.

**Ok guys! There you have it. Sorry, I know that I promised a chapter yesterday but I have a new unofficial beta that had to look it over. She had work to do so it just took her a while.**

**IMPORTANT! Hey everyone! So I got a beta. Drum roll…..my big sis! Yea my sister (who has been writing way longer than I have) has agreed to be my beta! Because I have to pass my stories through her, the updates may be a little slower. Sorry. You guys won't get any more crappy chapters though! She just got onto fanfiction after I introduced her. If you like Harry Potter, than go look up her story under 'Thoughtful Memory' as an author. **

**Song of the day: Fireflies by Owl City.**

**I hope that the chapter was a little longer guys!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Ahhhhh! It's an unlucky chapter! Hehe. I guess it is kind of appropriate for what happens in this chapter. Thanks sis for being my beta! I hope you all like my avatar! I drew the picture so yeah. It didn't turn out how I had hoped on FF but O well. **

**IMPORTANT QUESTION AT END OF CHAPTER!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

Jay looked at the moon for a few more minutes and then broke down into tears. She cried for everything that she had lost. She cried for her family and how they were probably mourning for her. She cried for her room and everything in it. She cried for her dog and for school and she cried for her friends. Jay finally fell asleep in the chair next to the window where she sat. That was where Gilan found her in the morning when he went to wake her up.

Jay was curled up in the chair with her head resting on the window sill. Her hair was a mess and fell onto her face where tear stains were visible and it made Gilan wonder what had happened to make her cry. He thought that everything the day before had gone well. As he walked closer, Gilan could see that she was shivering in the cool morning air.

He woke her up with a gentle shake to her shoulder and handed her a blanket.

"Hey there. I came to let you know that Halt wants to talk to you before he leaves."

Jay yawned tiredly and stood up. Her hair was all over the place. Gilan let out a soft chuckle and Jay turned to glare up at him.

"What's the matter? Got a problem with bed head?"

Gilan was obviously trying to suppress a smile.

"Of course not. You just look like a horse has been chewing on your head."

"Haha. Real funny." Jay turned and stomped to the door. Gilan was still smiling when she exited.

She walked into the main room and found Halt sitting at the table nursing a cup of coffee in his hands. He didn't look up when she entered.

Jay cleared her throat hoping to catch his attention but he still didn't look up.

"Are you catching a cold girl?" Ugh. Jay had fallen into the same trap as Will had in the first book. She knew that she should have seen that coming.

"No Halt, I really shouldn't have fallen for that should I?"

"No, you should not have. Why don't you come to sit, I need to talk to you about _it._"

Jay pulled out a chair and sat down with a *humph*. She was still tired and it made her limbs feel like lead. She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head on them.

"Go ahead, I'm listening." Jay yawned and tried to focus on the grains in the table to stay awake.

"Jay, you know that no one can find out about the books. You have to be careful what you say around people."

Jay yawned again and nodded. "Mhm."

"Jay you _have _to listen. You _cannot_ make another mistake like you did around me."

"It's alright Halt. I got it under control. Don't worry a bit." Halt raised his eye brow.

"Do you even realize how dire the situation could get if you made another mistake?"

"Of course I do. Don't worry. I know exactly what I'm doing." Jay closed her eyes but opened them again when Halt snorted.

"A fourteen year old girl should never have been entrusted with information like that." Jay's anger began to rise.

"O really? Well I am sorry if I don't live up to your expectations."

Halt just looked back down to whatever he had been doing before and ignored her. Jay began to fume. The old man was totally ignoring her after accusing her being too young to be entrusted with important information. How dare he?

"Are you not going to answer me?" He just kept ignoring her. Jay felt the heat rising to her face.

"Well then, I guess that maybe…." Jay stopped herself. She was about to talk about the books again. She blushed and looked down at her feet. Halt just smirked.

"That is exactly what I was talking about. You have to watch your tongue."

Jay continued to look at her feet. "Yes Halt. I understand. I'm sorry."

"Good." Halt rubbed his temples again. "With your coming here it just complicates everything that's already happening."

This perked Jay's curiosity. "What's happening?"

Halt just looked at her, "Why would you need to know?"

"Come on Halt, I might as well know, I could help out somehow."

"No, you are already entrusted with enough important information." Halt picked up the papers on the table and headed for the door. Gilan entered as Halt was leaving.

"Gilan, make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

Gilan looked down at Jay but kept a totally straight face. "Of course Halt, what could a fourteen year old girl do anyway?" Jay and Halt both glanced at each other. She knew that Gilan was thinking on a totally different train of thought than they were. All Jay did was smile sweetly.

"Trouble? What trouble could _I_, a sweet, innocent, little girl get into?" Halt just snorted, grabbed his cloak, and left. Gilan looked back at Jay.

"Do you want some coffee?" Jay nodded eagerly and retook her seat at the table. She thought about what Halt had said earlier and she wanted to find out what was happening.

"Gilan?"

"Yes Jay?"

"Halt said earlier about something happening but when I asked him about it he said to ask you because he didn't have time to answer it himself. So what is happening?"

"Is that really what he said?"

"Mhm"

"That's surprising. I do recall earlier that he told me not to talk to anyone about it."

"O well, he said I was an exception."

Gilan gave Jay a stern look. "Jay…."

"Fine. He said I didn't need to know. But, please! I really want to know what's happening!"

"Sorry but I can't. Even if I wanted to Halt said no and he is the final answer."

Jay sat frowning at the table until Gilan put at cup of coffee in front of her. She eagerly grabbed the cup and began to drink appreciatively from it.

"Gilan? Where is Jenny? I thought that she was supposed to be here?"

"O a few days ago there was an emergency at her restaurant back in Redmont. She had to leave early."

Jay continued to drink from her coffee. She was disappointed that she hadn't gotten to know Jenny better. She was a character that Jay really liked.

"Well Jay, I think that we need to get you some new clothes. Something that will help you blend in around here."

Jay looked up from her coffee. "I'm not wearing a dress. Just forget it. Don't even _think_ about trying to shove me in a dress." Gilan looked slightly amused.

"I can see that. We can go by the tailor later and get you something else then." Jay looked at herself. She was still wearing her black ninja outfit. So, maybe it didn't exactly fit in, but she was pretty sure it would be more comfortable than the clothes they were going to get her.

A few more minutes were spent in silence. Jay was beginning to drift again when a scream tore through quietness. She was pretty sure she had heard that scream before. It sounded very familiar. It was then that Jay recognized the scream and it made her heart pound.

Gilan jumped up and ran to the door to grab his cloak. "Jay you stay here. I'm going to go see what that is."

"Nope, there is no way I'm not coming. I actually think that I know who that is." Gilan gave her an inquisitive look.

"You what?"

"Let's just go. If it's who I think it is we don't have much time until she starts…. Well let's just go."

Gilan gave her one more look before heading out the door. They rushed through the woods until they found a very peculiar sight. Halt was sitting on top of his horse with a squealing girl standing in front of him.

"O my gosh, o my gosh, o my gosh! It's the _actual_ Halt. Eeeeeeeeeeee! I must be dreaming! I never ever want wake up!" The girl was jumping up and down and had a ridiculous smile on her face.

Gilan looked down at Jay who was also smiling. She was about to burst out laughing just thinking of what Halt's face had to look like. Jay walked past Halt toward the girl still jumping up and down in the middle of the road.

"Kath! Over here!" Jay tackled her friend into a hug. Katherine's eyes widened when she saw her friend.

"Are you in my dream too? Or, are we both dead?" Jay giggled.

"No! We are actually both in Araluen!" Katherine's eyes go even bigger.

"No way! Eeeeeeeeeee!" Jay burst out laughing.

"Calm down Kath! I think you're scaring Halt." Katherine looked at Halt and tried to stop her jumping.

"Ok, ok. Sorry." Jay's smile widened. This just go very interesting.

**So there you have it guys! I decided to shake things up a little bit. Hope you guys like the change! I know this wasn't the best chapter but hoped you liked it anyway!**

**IMPORTANT QUESTION! So what do you guys want to happen next? Go ahead and give me suggestions. I have no idea where this story is going.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Thank you….Sarah, Alex, Guest, Dawnfire11, moniquebowman, Phoenix Risin, Faithful Guest, Hibernia 12, and G! **

**Thanks guys! I love you all! **

**Song of the day…Viva La Vida by Coldplay.**


	14. Chapter 14

**REALLY IMPORTANT A/N! PLEASE READ!**

**Ok ok. So I know that some of you don't like Katherine. I actually felt bad for Jay and I wanted her to have someone there with her. This chapter is all about Katherine and how she came to be in Araluen. If you guys seriously don't like her, than I will delete this chapter and redo the last one. I will take her out completely. Just tell me what you guys want. I will set up a poll and you guys can also just tell me in reviews. Thanks guys I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the books or any of the songs that I have listed.**

Katherine was walking home from school crunching the dead leaves underfoot. It was a cool autumn afternoon and the smell of burning wood smoke and leaves was in the air. It was Katherine's favorite time of the year and the only thing that would make it better was hanging out with her best friend Jay.

The thought of Jay left Katherine reminiscing. Jay and Katherine had known each other since kindergarten. They had hated the other until the second grade when for some reason they had become best friends. Even to this day, Katherine had no idea what had made them bond so well. She just knew that since that year, they had done almost everything together.

One of their favorite activities was running around in the woods pretending that they were Rangers from the books _Ranger's Apprentice._ They would pretend that they were on some mission with the famous rangers Halt and Will. Of course Katherine would always make sure that Gilan was never forgotten. She had always had a crush on Gilan even though he was a fictional book character.

Katherine knew that pretending that book characters were going on missions with them sounded childish. Especially for two teenagers in high school, but Katherine didn't care. She decided long ago that she would keep her imagination for as long as possible, even if it made her look like she was eight again.

Her eyes misted over, Jay, she was like a sister to Katherine and that was why she was down cast. Jay had been missing for a little over a month. No one knew what had happened to her.

Jay had gone out one day to 'go exploring' as her mom put it and she never came back. Days were spent looking for any clues as to where she could have gone but nothing was found. It was like she had just vanished into this air. Katherine was determined to find out and every day she had searched the forest for her friend.

Of course, Katherine's mom didn't know anything about her searching because she was not allowed anywhere near the forest now that Jay had disappeared. Katherine just ignored that, she was going to find her friend.

She arrived at her house and dumped her school bag by the door. She ran up to her room and changed into a dark green T-shirt and black cargo pants. Katherine grabbed her dad's old army jacket that had been given to her after he had passed away and pulled it on. The last pieces of clothing were her hiking boots that she always wore into the woods.

The days had been getting shorter and colder so her searching time had been limited to right before dinner which only gave her a couple hours to actually do any looking. Katherine put her dark brown hair into a pony tail and pulled on a black stocking cap. She checked herself in the mirror and made a few tweaks before she deemed herself ready.

Grabbing an identical survival pack to Jay's (minus the books) Katherine snuck out the door and across the street to where she could easily access the woods.

**LINE BREAK! **

It had been about an hour and Katherine had still not found anything that pointed to where Jay could possibly be. Of course, she had done this for the past month and not found anything so she wasn't really expecting to find anything this time either.

Katherine jumped over another log and came to a tall oak that looked great for climbing. It looked just like a tree that Jay would love to climb. That thought Katherine wonder.

She climbed up into the tree, slower than what Jay would have because she wasn't as great a climber, and arrived at the first branch. It was broad and looked just right for sitting. Katherine felt something soft brush against her hand and looked down to see what it was.

A piece of camouflage material was stuck to the tree. It was faded from being beaten by the elements and frayed around the edges. It looked just like a piece from something Jay would wear. Of course Katherine knew that it could have come from anywhere but it got her hopes up anyway and she quickly climbed down the tree.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Katherine stumbled and tried to regain her footing. She suddenly felt woozy and the world felt like it was spinning a million miles per hour. Katherine fell to her knees and gasped for breath. She closed her eyes and knew no more.

**LINE BREAK!**

Katherine slowly regained consciousness and slightly opened her eyes. The world slowly bled back in and she found herself staring up at the canopy of a forest. The strange thing was that it was a lot lighter outside and the trees looked different. Had she been outside for the entire night?

That thought made Katherine jump up. She didn't feel any different than usual which was weird because of the little episode she had earlier. Katherine looked around found herself on a path in a strange forest. Where was she? Was this what had happened to Jay? Did she get kidnapped and dumped in a strange forest?

Someone cleared their throat behind her and Katherine screamed and whipped around, she came face to face with a small gray horse. It was definitely on the smaller side but it looked like it was built for some serious speed. From her spot, Katherine could see the muscles under its shaggy coat.

If there was a horse…..Katherine looked up to see a man dressed in what looked like an old-timy foresters outfit. He was also wearing a hooded gray and green dappled cloak. That seemed very familiar to her and she studied his face.

He was older, probably in his early or mid-50s. He had short cut black hair and a beard that was peppered with grey. Katherine began to get excited and looked down to see a silver oak leaf around his neck.

"O my gosh," she breathed and all the man did was raise his eyebrow. Excitement built up in Katherine until she couldn't hold it in anymore.

She started jumping up and down, "O my gosh, o my gosh, o my gosh! It's the _actual_ Halt! Eeeeeeeeee! I must be dreaming! I never want to wake up!" Katherine couldn't keep from smiling and she knew she probably looked like an idiot but she didn't care. Her dreams had finally been answered!

She heard laughter that sounded very familiar and then a voice she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Kath! Over here!" Katherine turned just in time to see her best friend, Jay, before she was tackled into a hug. Katherine knew this had to be a dream. How could she actually be in Araluen, especially with her friend who had been missing for over a month?

"Are you in my dream too?" then a new thought occurred to her that scared her even more, "Or are both dead?"

Jay giggled. "No! We are actually both in Araluen!" Katherine looked her friend in the eyes and could tell she was telling the truth. Everything was just too real to be a dream and she was pretty sure she wasn't dead.

"No way! Eeeeeeeee!" Katherine could see the pure joy on her friend's face and wondered what had actually happened this past month to her.

Jay burst out laughing. "Calm down Kath! I think you're scaring Halt!" Katherine realized that she was still jumping up and down and almost hyperventilating.

"Ok, ok. Sorry." She willed her feet to stop their bouncing movement and succeeded at least slightly. She was just so happy that she had actually found her friend and in a place like Araluen!

**So there you have it! Please do the poll and/or tell me if you still want her there or if Katherine should just be erased! It's all up to you guys!**

**Song of the day…You'll be in My Heart by Phil Collins**


	15. Chapter 15

**Ok so I know that some of you don't like Katherine. Well sorry. She will continue to be in my story. I have come up with a solution that I hope will appease everyone; it is my story though. I also found out that there is another fanfiction out there with a Katherine in it, she is also from the real world, and so, I have decided to change her name to Katelyn. I will try to fix the names in the other chapters when I have time. There you have it!**

**I am also really sorry for making you guys wait!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to John Flanagan or the songs that I list at the end of every chapter.**

Jay POV:

After calming Kate down, Halt gestured for Jay to follow him and they stopped at the edge of the forest before he turned to look at her.

"Jay, explain."

"That girl who is freaking out on the road is my friend. Her name is Katelyn. I have absolutely no idea why or how she came to be here."

Halt sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose and looked up at the sky as if asking if things could get any worse.

"Can she keep her mouth shut? I don't have time to explain to another adolescent the responsibilities of knowing _everything_ that you shouldn't." Jay grinned cheekily at him.

"Don't worry. I got this. You just go on your merry way and I will clean things up here." Halt gave her a long suffering look and headed back to the road where Kate was stroking Abelard. She saw him coming and backed off quickly. Halt didn't even look at her as he mounted and continued on down the road.

Gilan, by this point, was looking very confused and was just standing in the road waiting for someone to explain to him what was going on. He had been hidden by Abelard before but as soon as Kate saw him her mouth opened and she looked like she was about to scream again.

Before she could however, Jay clamped a hand over her mouth and, giving Gilan an apologetic look, dragged Kate over to the side of the road.

"Kate, you have to stop screaming. Do you promise to stop?" Kate nodded her head and Jay took her hand away. "Good, now please act normal. Halt is the only one who knows about the books. Gilan thinks that I'm from Hibernia or something. Please don't ruin it. When we get back to the cabin I promise to explain everything." Kate opened her mouth and then shut it. "Good, now act as if everything is normal ok?" Kate nodded again and the friends made their way back over to Gilan who looked as confused as ever.

"Sorry about that Gilan. Let me introduce you, this is my friend Katelyn, Katelyn, this is Gilan. We, uh, know each other from Hibernia. We lived in the same, uh, village."

Gilan still looked slightly confused but he seemed to have accepted it. "Nice to meet you Katelyn. How did you come to be in Araluen?" Kate and Jay looked at each other. Kate was the first to man up and answer the question.

"When Jay left to look for work in Araluen, she said to come looking for her if I ever needed anything. I was run out by my employer when I found out that he was cheating customers. I then decided to come looking for Jay. I thought that maybe she could help me find work or something."

That was the thing with Kate; she was always clever with words. She could work herself out of any problem by just talking. Unlike Jay, when Kate got nervous, she could keep a cool head and find loop holes that Jay never knew existed.

Gilan looked thoughtful for a moment, "Ok, but how have you heard of Halt before?" Jay knew what Kate was thinking.

"Traveling into Araluen, I heard of the whole Sunrise warrior episode. I dug some and got the full story. Quite remarkable actually."

Gilan looked surprised and slightly skeptical, but he seemed to shake it off quickly. "Well then Katelyn, would you like to join Jay at my cabin until we can find better accommodations for you?"

Kate, looking very pleased with this agreement, agreed and the trio made their way back to Gilan's cabin.

When the three were comfortably seated around the table with freshly brewed cups of coffee, Gilan decided ask more questions of Kate.

"I was wondering Katelyn…." Kate immediately cut him off.

"Please, call me Kate. Katelyn makes me feel old." Smiling, Gilan continued.

"Well, Kate, I was wondering what age you were?"

"I am 13. I'll be 14 in a couple of months." Kate was in the same grade as Jay because her mother had put her in Kindergarten a year early.

Gilan looked thoughtful for a moment and then continued. "I might still be able to get you into the ward. Would that be fine with you to live there? You would be hard pressed to find a job at your age."

Kate looked at Jay and she shrugged. It was all up to Kate weather or not she wanted to stay at the ward. Jay was just happy she had a friend to be with her.

"Yea I guess it would be ok to stay in the ward."

"Great! I will contact the Baron in the morning and see if there are any spots open. In the meantime, Jay, would it be ok if Kate stayed in your room until we can secure a spot for her."

Jay smiled and nodded. It would be just like a sleepover, except it was in their favorite book!

Standing up, Jay waved for Kate to follow her. They practically ran into Jay's room and Kate gasped.

"Jay it's just like the book! You are so lucky! You get to live in a Ranger cabin!"

"Well now so do you, for a while at least."

That night was a dream come true. Both friends had dreamt of a night like that one where they could spend the night talking in a fictional world where everything was perfect. What they didn't know was that everything was about to turn into a nightmare.

**Somewhere in the Northern woods of Araluen.**

The leader of the bandits strode among the camp. He was awaiting the orders from the 'higher power'. No name had been given, just a large amount of money and orders as to what they had to do to keep the money flowing.

His band was rugged and mismatched, but every one of his thugs had their special ability and they could all hold their own in a fight. He turned around when a rustling in the bushes alerted the Leader to some ones presence.

A scrawny man in ragged clothes stumbled out of the forest. The Leader strode up to him and grabbed him by his collar.

"Who are you?" This man was not one of his thugs and he wanted to know who his guards had let pass them.

"I…I'm the messenger sent to the Leader with orders from the_ higher power._" The Leader shoved the little man away from him but, unfortunately, the messenger couldn't get his feet under him in time and roughly sprawled on the ground.

Groaning, the messenger pushed himself back onto his feet and reached into his bag. He pulled out a dirty envelope that was bent and torn but still held the seal fully intact on the back. The messenger tentatively held it out for the Leader who snatched it out of hands and turned on his heel.

"Now get out of my camp." The Leader growled at the scrawny man behind him.

"But…but….the _higher power_ said I was to wait here until a return answer was to be sent." The Leader huffed. He had enough of his own messengers to send his reply. He didn't trust the sniveling little twig and his messengers were far more fit than this little man.

"Well, tell the _higher power_ I can use the messengers I want." The man behind him started to tremble.

"He said that if I came back without a letter I would never see the light of day again!" The Leader didn't have time for this pathetic little man. He had to get to the letter. He turned around and got right in the face of the smaller man.

"I will tell you one more time, get out of my camp." His voice was dangerously low but the man he was talking to didn't get the message.

"But…" He didn't get to finish because the Leader grabbed him and threw him into the bushes.

"GET OUT OF MY CAMP!" the Leader roared and gestured to some of his thugs that were hanging around watching the exchange.

"Make sure he goes. If he doesn't then dispose of him how you want." The thugs grinned and chased after the messenger.

Turning toward his tent, the Leader pushed aside the flap and entered. He sat at the makeshift desk and chair set in the middle of the room and set the letter in front of him.

He flipped it over to see the seal that depicted a picture of a snake wrapped around a double headed battle axe and two swords crossed in the back ground. He broke it and pulled out the letter within.

Scanning it, he put it down and walked outside and called a runner boy.

"Go to each of the spy's tents. Tell them to meet me here, I need all of them." The boy nodded and rushed off.

A few minutes later, the first of his spies started to arrive. They gathered around his tent and he gave them their instructions.

"Make sure that you know where everyone is, who they are, and if they have an apprentice. I want to know everything about them. Where they eat, sleep, and shop. I want to know habits, pets, anything that could give us leverage later on." The spies nodded and left to gather their supplies to leave.

This was just the beginning of the plan that the _higher power_ had planned out.

**There you have it! The plot begins! **

**So I love all of you that reviewed! Here we go, thank you….. Alex The Rogue, G, Ranger Wisdom, Hibernia12, Faithful Guest, Sarah, Guest, ThrillSeeker, Miss Kisharoo, Phoenix Risin, magicshadow1, ME for reviewing! Sorry if I missed anyone or I spelled your name wrong.**

**Song of the day…One Man Disney Movie by Nick Pitera. (Guys this is really amazing!) **


	16. Chapter 16

**I love all of you! I know that I say that every chapter but it's true! So here we go!...**

**Disclaimer: *heavy sigh* I don't own Ranger's Apprentice or any other reference I make to any other books and I also don't own any songs mentioned in this story.**

**(Kate POV)**

A few days later, everything was settled and Kate was to leave for the ward the next morning. Jay had been moping the whole day and Kate was determined to cheer her up since they probably wouldn't see each other for a while.

"Come here Jay! I have something to give you." Jay perked up at this and joined Kate at the table where she was sitting with her bag open. Kate reached into her bag and pulled out two small pea shooters.

"You know Jay; they work with berries as well as peas." She tossed one to Jay and ran out the door where she immediately searched for a berry laden bush. Finding one with small red berries, Kate opened up a pouch at her waist and filled it to the brim.

After stocking up on ammunition, she crept around the cabin until she reached the front door. No foot prints could be found around there so Kate knew she wouldn't be able to follow Jay wherever she had run off to. The next best plan of action would be to get up high and survey the surrounding area.

Kate looked around for a suitable high spot and eventually decided on a tree that stood off a little bit from the rest. She ran over to it and inspected the surrounding area making sure that Jay hadn't left a trap. Satisfied that she was alone, Kate began to climb.

Up in the tree Kate had a wonderful view of clearing. She thought she saw something move off to her right but when she looked, she couldn't see any more movement. It was then that she remembered what the rangers did, she needed to keep scanning and not focus on one spot, otherwise the 'enemy' could sneak past.

She scanned the area and saw movement again but couldn't pinpoint it. She failed to notice Jay sneaking up behind her until it was too late and a sharp pain hit her in the back.

"Ow Jay! That hurt. You're not supposed to blow _that_ hard!" Kate pivoted in the tree to see Jay laughing in the next tree over.

"Is the princess too delicate for this game?" Jay taunted her eyes twinkling.

"O it's on Blue jay!" Another berry whizzed past Kate's head.

"You know I hate that name Kate!" Kate was the one laughing this time.

"I know!" She shot a few berries at Jay and then jumped from the tree she was in. She was close enough to the ground to be able to tuck and roll and not get hurt. Kate sprinted across the clearing and dove behind a tree just in time to dodge a barrage of berries.

"You missed Mocking Jay!" She ducked again as a few more berries sailed past her.

"That's the wrong book Kate_lyn_!" Kate returned fire and cheered when she heard a yelp.

The afternoon was spent in a berry shooting war with playful insults being thrown back and forth between the two friends. By the end of three fun hours, both girls were splattered head to toe with red berry guts.

After another hour, both friends were locked in a stale mate. They were staring at each other daring the other to move first. There were only a few feet between them and they were so focused on the person in front of them that they didn't notice Gilan leisurely leaning against the cabin watching their show down.

It had started to get dark and Gilan had decided to get the girls inside before it was full dark. He had come out to the stale mate and had been watching them for the last few minutes. Both of the girls were so concentrated that they didn't see Gilan nock and arrow and aim at a tree between them.

Kate narrowed her eyes; she was not going to lose this battle. Just when she was about to pelt Jay in the face with her last few berries, an arrow streaked past her face and imbedded itself in a tree between her and Jay.

Kate yelped and jumped so violently that she lost her balance and toppled onto the ground. Tasting dirt and leaves, she picked herself up and glanced over to see Jay in a similar state. She heard laughter off to her left and turned to see Gilan doubled over with laughter.

"You should have seen your faces!" he wheezed between fits of laughter. Kate scowled and 'death-glared' at him. She suddenly had an idea and glance over at Jay to see the mischievous glint in her eyes. Kate grinned and turned her attention back to Gilan who was still laughing uncontrollably almost rolling on the ground. Both girls raised their berry shooters to their mouths and nodded at each other.

Soon, Gilan was the one on the ground while both girls were rolling with laughter. He stood up, brushing himself off and grinned evilly at them. Glancing at each other, they bolted for the trees but before they could reach cover, Gilan had them both by the scruff of their shirts and was dragging them over to the stream. They tried to squirm out of his grasp, but only succeeded in tangling themselves up more.

"Come on Gilan, it was only petty revenge!" Jay was trying to use the puppy dog face but that didn't seem to work on him.

"Yea this is just revenge to." Gilan thrust both of them into the water and they landed with a splash, but as Kate was going in, she grabbed Gilan's leg and pulled it out from under him. He slipped and landed on his back in the water while both girls jumped out of the way and scrambled up the bank. They ran laughing to the cabin where they found towels and dried off.

Gilan trudged in and both girls burst out laughing again. Kate's first thought was that he looked like a drowned puppy. She tossed him a towel and proceeded into the room she shared with Jay to change into dryer clothes.

"Ok, you guys get to make dinner." Gilan called after Kate's retreating back.

"Mhm. Sure. If you want burnt eggs and toast." Kate didn't know how to cook and every time she tried, something ended up burnt.

In the end, Gilan ended up cooking and the night was spent laughing over dinner and cups of freshly brewed coffee.

**LINE BREAK!**

Back in Jay's room Kate and Jay were lounging about trying to figure out what to do next.

"Kate I really miss the old music. The stuff here isn't half bad but it's not…..homish."

"That's not even a word Jay. But yea, I understand." After a minute of silence, Kate started to hum 'Don't stop believing' by Journey. That started a full out sing along and they sung the classics mainly like, 'The Final Countdown', 'The Eye of the Tiger', and 'Thriller'.

"Hey Kate?"

"Yea Jay?"

"Let's sing something more…modern."

"Ok…..um…how 'bout the Cup song from Pitch Perfect?"

"That's great! Do we have any cups we can use?" Kate ran over to her bag and pulled out a couple solo cups. Jay gave her a weird look.

"Why do you carry around those?" Kate shrugged.

"I have no idea." Jay just smiled and sat on the floor with Kate and they began the beat. Jay started singing first but the two switched off every verse. They sang for the better part of two hours but eventually collapsed from exhaustion. They both climbed into their beds and pulled the blankets up.

Kate snuggled closer under blankets and thought about her past life.

"Jay, what happens to us if we never get out of here?" Jay was quiet for a few moments. She rolled over and looked down at Kate on the floor.

"I honestly don't know Kate. I haven't really thought that far." Kate let out a choked sob. It had only been a few days but she already missed her family, her life, and her books. She heard Jay get off the bed and felt her strong, comforting, embrace. Jay had always felt like a bigger sister to her. She always protected her when people had picked on her or made fun of her being a nerd.

She cried into Jay's shoulder and felt her pat her back.

"I can't do it Jay. I can't keep going. I can't be alone. Don't let them take me away. I can't be alone." She sobbed into Jay's shoulder. Jay pulled her away and looked her in the eyes.

"Listen, I went through this too but I made it through it and I was alone. You are so much stronger and you have me!" Kate giggled. Jay always found a way to make her laugh.

"It's ok. Really." Kate lay back down and Jay tucked her in.

"Plus, we both know all the secrets of the Rangers. We got a head start right?" Kate just nodded and closed her eyes.

Jay blew out the candle and climbed back into her bed. The last thing Kate heard was Jay whispering, "Good night little sis."

**Outside Gilan's cabin**

The spy had been snooping around all day and had not gathered much. When he sat outside the girls' room it was mostly just normal talk until he heard one snipped of information that would help put the _plan_ into action. 'Plus, we both know all the secrets of the Rangers.'

The spy grinned and headed off back to the Leader. He would surely be rewarded for the information he would be delivering.

**So there you have it! Thanks to all who reviewed! Hope you all liked the chapter! **

**Thank you…..truefairytales, Alex The Rouge, Ranger Wisdom, StarHunter11, Faithful Guest, Species Unknown, Hibernia12, mim2000, ThrillSeeker, and maggiestarjump! Thank you thank you thank you everyone! I am so sorry if I missed you or I spelled something wrong in your name!**

**So everyone, well I don't feel like writing a story that is more than 30 chapters long, so if the story is not wrapped up by then, I will begin a sequel! Think of it kind of like a book series. I just thought I would let you know!**

**Please please please review! It makes me guilty and want to upload faster!**

**Song of the day…..Awake and Alive by Skillet. **


	17. Chapter 17

**I am so so so so so sorry. I am dealing with **_**major**_** writers block at the moment so this chapter may seem a little forced. Ok so some of you may know I'm writing another story called Demons of the Past. Yes, it is another Ranger's Apprentice fanfic. I need to ask you guys some questions at the end of the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Do I seriously have to do this **_**every**_** time? I don't own any of the books, any references to other books, or any songs mentioned in this story.**

Jay POV

The final morning had come and Kate was all packed up and ready to head for the castle. Both friends sat at the table with cups of coffee and forlorn looks on their faces. Gilan stepped into the room fully dressed in his ranger outfit and grabbed his bow sitting by the door.

"Come on Kate. Time to head for the castle." Kate grabbed her bag and trudged to the door where she turned around to look at Jay.

"Well, bye Jay. I guess I'll see ya later." Jay got up from the table and hugged her friend in a crushing embrace.

"Jay…..can't…..breathe….." Jay gasped and stepped back to see her friend leaning her hands on her knees and gasping for breath.

"Come on Kate. I didn't hug you _that_ hard." Kate stood up and laughed.

"Nope, but you did have a funny look on your face." Jay lunged at Kate but she was already out the door. She shook her head and looked to Gilan who had an amused expression on his face that he was obviously trying to cover up.

"Gilan I …never mind," Gilan quirked his eyebrow. Obviously a habit he had picked up from Halt.

"What were you going to say Jay?" Jay mock glared at him.

"I said, never mind." Gilan opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by a shout coming from outside.

"Come on Gilan! I want to see my new ward peeps!" Gilan groaned and headed out the door. He paused and looked back at Jay.

"Do I have to deal with her strange words and phrases the whole way there?" Jay smiled.

"Yep!" Gilan groaned again and finally exited. Jay chuckled to herself and headed to her room to continue to re-read the books.

Jay read for a few minutes but the books quickly lost their interesting quality since she was actually in them. She decided to go outside with her knives and practice. She slipped on her black gloves and a belt that she could store all her knives in. Then she put on her ninja outfit because she couldn't find her other one, which was ok because her ninja outfit was awesome.

She laced up her combat boots and pulled the hood up over her face. Jay grinned; she knew she looked like a total boss. Since she was wearing her ninja outfit she decided to jump out the window instead of using the front door.

She crouched on the window sill and glanced around her making sure no 'bad guys' were following her. She jumped and rolled on the ground immediately sitting up and throwing one of her knives at the nearest tree. It sank into the bark with a satisfying *thunk*. She jumped up and pretended to dodge a sword strike before jabbing with another knife and twisting to throw at a tree behind her.

She pulled out a hunting knife and started going through a sequence she had been taught. Jab, slash, slash, and dodge. She repeated the pattern until she was tired and switched to a new one. After a while of parrying pretend villains, some instinct told her to turn around.

Pulling out her last throwing knife, she used the Ranger double knife block and braced it behind the hunting knife. She twisted around and met a resistance with a clang. There wasn't supposed to be a resistance. She pushed up and stepped back to size up her opponent. She wasn't expecting to see Gilan smiling down at her.

"Hey, how 'bout we not scare me like that again ok?" Gilan chuckled.

"But you have the best reactions." Jay glared at him.

"Yea, why don't we test that on you and then decide who has the best reactions. That sounds like a great idea!" Gilan looked at her in mock horror.

"You would never do such a thing!" Jay smiled evil at him.

"Just watch me." Gilan stepped back a few steps.

"Well, only if you can catch me." He melted into the forest without a sound. Jay sighed. She just had to play hide and seek with Gilan who just happened to be the best silent and unseen mover in the corps. Fantastic.

Jay ran after him into the forest and glanced around before climbing a tree. She knew that he wouldn't leave any tracks or hint to where he was unless he was luring her into a trap. So, the idea of tracking him was out of the question. He was probably watching her at that moment evaluating how she dealt with situation. Well, she was just planning on waiting him out.

**LINE BREAK!**

Two hours later, Jay decided that her plan was a bad one. She had not seen hide or hair of him and she was getting hungry. The wind caressed her face as though sympathizing with her but it also carried a sent that smelled like…..stew?

Jay sniffed the air. There was definitely the smell of something cooking like a meat stew or something of the like. She jumped from the tree and followed the smell to the clearing and then into the cabin. Gilan was standing at the fire place cooking something in a pot. Jay just stood at the door dumbfounded.

"Hey there Jay. I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"How did you…I mean I was looking over the whole clearing. How did you slip by?" Gilan gave her an 'are you kidding me?' look.

"Jay you were in a tree that looked over the front part of the clearing, not the back. I easily circled around walked in through the back door. Plus, you are untrained. There was no way that I, a full Ranger for years now, would let an untrained _kid_ see me." Jay gave him an incredulous look and sniffed.

"Well then if that is how it's going to be…."Jay put on an air of hurt.

"Come on Jay. Have a sense of humor."

"Maybe I don't feel like it right now." Jay stalked into her room but stopped when Gilan called out, "Well then I guess you don't want to eat this _lovely_ stew I made."

Jay turned around and quickly sat at the table. "You know Gilan; you are the best person in the world. No one is nicer than you. I hope to be like you some day." Gilan snorted.

"Think you're laying it on a little think don't you?" Jay beamed up at him.

"Of course not. Why would you ever think so?" Gilan shook his head.

"You're as bad as Horace. You'll compliment people just to get food." Jay shrugged and dug into the food that Gilan set before her.

**Back in the Northern Woods of Araluen.**

The spy that had been sent to Whitby fief entered the Leaders tent with an air of satisfaction.

"My lord, I have important news on the ranger at Whitby fief." The Leader turned around stared at the spy.

"Well? We don't have all day! Spill it!" The spy looked at the Leader as though waiting for something.

"It is _very_ important news that may require some encouragement." The Leader sighed and tossed him a coin bag. The spy weighed it in his hand before pocketing it and continuing.

"The ranger has two girls at his cottage. They seem to be apprentices or something. The interesting thing is that they say they know all of the secrets of the Rangers."

The Leader pondered over this new information. Yes, he could use it.

**I am so sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed. I am really struggling with writer's block so sorry. I also know it's a little short. Sorry.**

**Thanks….. mim2000, truefairytales, Species Unknown, Alex the Rogue, Phoenix Risin, Faithful Guest, Dawnfire11, ME, Thrill Seeker, and Savannah Silverstone for reviewing! **

**Yea so question time! How do you guys want me to update? I am thinking of updating one chapter and then the other. Like switch off. What do you guys think?**

**Song of the day…..Set Fire to the Rain by Adele.**


	18. Chapter 18

**OK ok guys. So chapters will be slower from now on because I am moving and I have to pack and school is starting. Things are a little hectic, so sorry if I don't update as quickly as I usually do. Sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the things in this story except for any OCs and the plot.**

Kate looked out her window and glanced across the forest and then up to the moon. She sighed as the glowing orb shined down and illuminated her face. She had settled in pretty well and the few days she had been at the ward weren't bad, it was just that she wasn't actually an orphan and she missed her parents.

It was all Jay's fault that she was stuck here without any idea what to do. If Jay hadn't wished her to be here then she could be at home snuggled under her plush comforter with her cat Murphy snuggled next to her. If Jay had fought back about her going to the ward then maybe she could have at least been with Jay and not surrounded by total strangers.

Kate turned back towards the room and slid down with her back against the wall until she was in a sitting position on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Kate sighed and rested her head on her knees. She really wanted to go home.

That last night with Jay had been so fun, but now everything was different. She was an outcast. The other children ignored her and dodged around her. If she tried to join a conversation they would walk away. Kate knew it was because she refused to wear dresses and she talked strangely to them. She knew it was because she was different.

Kate cried softly to herself, her hair plastered itself to her face and her body shook. No one came to comfort her. No one wanted her there. No one liked her.

Kate fell asleep against the wall and woke up when she heard one of the younger children crying. Mel, the youngest, always had nightmares. Her parents had died in a house fire and she herself had been badly mutilated. None of the other children wanted anything to do with her because half of her face was badly burnt and looked a little odd.

Kate was the only one that would take care of her and calm her when her dreams woke her up. Kate got up and found her way in the dark over to Mel's bed where the girl was crying almost uncontrollably. Kate sat next to her and patted her back.

"Mel, it's ok. It was just a dream. Everything is ok. You don't need to worry. It's ok." Mel grabbed onto Kate's shirt and cried into the soft material.

"Hey, would you like me to sing you a song?" Mel nodded and Kate searched for a good one. She decided to sing Once Upon a December from Anastasia.

'Dancing bears painted wings

Things I almost remember

And a song someone sings

Once upon a December.

Someone holds me safe and warm

Horses dance through a silver storm

Figures dancing gracefully

Across my memory.

Far away, long ago

Glowing dim as an ember

Things my heart used to know

Once upon a December.

Someone holds me safe and warm,

Horses prance through a silver storm

Figures dancing gracefully

Across my memory.

Far away, long ago

Glowing dim as an ember

Things my heart used to know

Things it yearns to remember

And a song someone sings

Once upon a December.'

All the kids in the room were listening as Kate sang. All of them were orphans and most of them could remember something about their parents. Not all of them could, but the ones that did remember lapsed into memories of their parents.

Mel had fallen asleep and Kate gently laid her down and tucked her in. Mel reminded Kate of her little sister Emma. Kate shook her head to clear it and headed back to her window spot. One of the girls in the room grabbed Kate's sleeve and pulled her closer.

"What was that? Just trying to make us all feel bad huh? You talk as if you still have parents. Is it true? Are you trying to torture us? What's wrong with you little freak?"

Kate glared at the girl and yanked her sleeve away. Seething with anger she ignored the girl and stalked off back to her window. She was not about to let the girl make her lash out and look bad. Taking a deep breath, Kate climbed out the window and scaled the wall to a balcony beneath the window.

Landing softly, she walked over to the edge of the balcony and crouched on the railing. Kate was close enough to the ground that she could just jump and roll. If she landed right, she might even escape a bruise.

Kate dropped herself and landed with a dull thud on the grass. Unfortunately, she didn't land right and her knee gave out as she hit the ground. Her roll was then off balance and Kate landed on her shoulder badly. With a cry of pain, Kate rolled a few more feet before stopping. She stood up and breathed deeply for a few seconds to get rid of the pain.

Unfortunately, the pain wasn't stopping and Kate figured she had probably pulled something in her shoulder. She would have to find another way up to the bedroom when she was done. Climbing was not going to work.

Kate limped a few feet into the forest so the trees concealed her and sat down. Her knee hurt her too. 'Good job' Kate thought sarcastically to herself. She grabbed her knee and moved it around. It wasn't too bad but she had probably twisted it or something like that.

She stood up, shook out her leg, and tried to put some weight on it. It hurt a little bit so she put some more weight on it only to have it collapse on her again. Kate growled under her breath and cursed her leg for giving out on her.

She sat down again and massaged her leg. This also wouldn't be happening if Jay had just kept her mouth shut and not wished her here. Jay, stupid, stupid, stupid….Kate snapped her head around behind her when she heard a twig snap.

She searched the woods but couldn't see anything. It was also pitch black so seeing anything was almost impossible. The trees swayed and made that 'shwushing' sound that they always made before something bad happened in the movies. It almost felt like the quiet before a storm. Everything was still and silent. Kate had a bad feeling that something was about to jump out at her or anything awful like that.

She shook her head and dismissed it as her nerves and turned back around to massage her knee and hopefully get it working again. Her senses were on high alert but she couldn't detect anything.

The hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end and Kate swung around to meet a heavy object contacting the side of her head.

The man picked up the limp girl and tied her hands behind her back and her feet together. His instructions had been simple, capture the girl and bring her back. It was simple and he was paid well. Since he had the first part of the instructions done, all he had to do was bring her back to camp and let the Leader do with her as he wanted.

**Ok ok ok! I know it's short! But, I promise that none of my chapters will be shorter than 1,100 words. That is just my mark as to where I stop. So yea!**

**Thanks to ….Alex The Rouge, truefairytales, Dawnfire11, Hibernia12, and Faithful Guest for reviewing! Please guys it really doesn't take that long to review and I seriously write faster when people review! Please please please review! It makes me guilty and update faster!**

**To Faithful Guest: I am so sorry that I forgot your question last time! I have just been a little busy lately and kind of distracted. So I will answer them now! Ok so…What is my third favorite question?...hm…..probably 'what is my favorite actor.' That would have to be Tom Hiddleston. My third favorite color is purple. Sorry again. Keep asking questions! I really don't mind.**

**Song of the day: Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Please don't hurt me! Guys, I am so sorry I haven't updated in like two months. Remember when I said I was moving? Well here are my days. School work in the morning-afternoon, any free time is spent packing, and then I go to sleep. So I haven't had time at all to write. I won't be able to update again for a while so…sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I probably never will. **

Jay sighed. Gilan was finally letting her leave the cabin and visit Kate. She was almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. Of course, Gilan had already mentioned that fact several times that morning but she didn't care, she was going to see her friend!

Walking out into the room, she put a bit of a bounce into her step because she was just so energized at being able to see Kate again. "Gilan, are we ready to go _now_?" she asked impatient. It was probably her third time asking in last ten minutes.

Gilan just raised his eye brow at her as he sat at the table drinking coffee and going over some reports. "You're worse than Will was." He stated plainly before turning his attention back to his work.

Jay sighed. She knew that being impatient was not the way to get through to these rangers but she just simply couldn't wait. She pulled out a chair and sat down with a huff setting her elbows on the table and propping her chin up with her hands.

Gilan looked over at her and sighed. He knew what it was like having to wait on something and being told to be patient about it. Rolling his eyes because he knew he shouldn't be giving in when he ought to make her wait, he put down the work. "I'll be right out." He stated plainly before starting to put his work away.

Jay jumped up and was almost bouncing with joy. "Alright!" she couldn't wait to see her friend. It had felt like so long and she felt bad for letting her be sent off to the ward by herself. She ran outside and waited for Gilan to follow.

**Kate's POV**

Kate woke up with a pounding head ache. She tried to move her hands so she could rub her head but soon realized that she was restrained. She twisted and turned trying to free herself but nothing was working. Stopping for a moment, she took a deep breath and trying to calm herself. First of all, she needed to figure out what was happening.

Or, rather, what had happened before? Kate scrunched up her face trying to remember what had occured. She had run into the forest at night. Well, it wasn't night anymore.

But, that was after the whole fiasco at the ward. Which now Kate knew she could have handled better. Now what had happened after that? She had hurt herself and had sat down; she had heard something in the forest….and then nothing. She couldn't remember anything after that.

Kate hadn't opened her eyes yet because of the pain in her head. When she did however, she almost immediately regretted it. Light seared her eyes and she had to quickly close them again to avoid hurting herself.

She decided to try the next sensation. Well, she wasn't moving at least. She moved her hands and felt something rough brush up against them. Kate felt around more and realized it was tree bark. She was tied to a tree. Well that didn't help much. Why the heck was she tied to a tree in the first place? Was it a prank of Jay's? Or had something else happened? Had she been kidnapped?

Finally she decided that opening her eyes wouldn't hurt as much this time. She slowly opened them and peered around at her surroundings. There was a camp fire, and a tent set up. Also, other things that most people would have for camping surrounded her. No one seemed to be there though. It looked deserted. This definitely wasn't a prank; at least one of Jay's. Something else must have happened.

Kate knew that the camp wasn't deserted. Whoever was staying here must have just left to get something; maybe to hunt or get some water from a nearby water source. The point was, they would be coming back. Her knife was in her boot which was unfortunately not going to be possible for her to reach. Wiggling around again, she felt her wrist bump up against something hard. She felt for it and realized that it was a good sized rock. If only it was sharp.

Picking it up, she turned it over in her hands, which was sort of hard to do considering that her hands were behind her back. Kate did find a sharper edge to the rock and set it down so that the sharp edge was facing upwards.

Biting her tongue, she started to rub the rope of her bound hands along the edge, it would take forever but she was determined to do it. The rope was chaffing her wrists and she kept cutting her wrists on the rock. It hurt really badly but if it meant she could escape, it was worth it.

One particular slice almost made her cry out in pain but she bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn't make any sound. If her captor was anywhere near -by she didn't want him or her to hear her.

After working at it for a few minutes, she heard footsteps off to her right. Kate paused for a minute before working even harder at the ropes. She needed to get through it now. The footsteps were getting closer and she could finally feel the ropes giving but she wasn't sure if she would have enough time to finish getting through it.

**Yea so I know that wasn't the best chapter but I at least got one out right? Really sorry guys I feel really guilty for leaving you all hanging for so long. I'll try to get to my other story soon and all that jazz. Thank you so much everybody for the lovely reviews. I love you all but this time I won't be naming anyone because it would take a while and I really don't have the time. I'll try to get around to it the next chapter. I really do love you all. Thanks guys and gals. **

**Song of the day: I'll Try by Jesse McCartney. (It was done by someone else but I like this version better.)**


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